Comment by walls

4 years ago

What happened to free speech being the bastion of America and the only thing that can counter misinformation and propaganda?

Suddenly doesn't seem to work so well when a Chinese app is granted that privilege.

9 comments

walls

Reply
didericis  4 years ago

Stealing information without user permission is not free speech.

  • AlexandrB  4 years ago

    Tell that to Facebook and LinkedIn. I don't get the double standard. These practices should be illegal, full stop. Why is it ok for US companies to do the same kinds of things?

    • didericis  4 years ago

      It is not a double standard. There are already legal and cultural limitations in the US that have much more respect for user consent, user privacy and intellectual property than in China.

      Any US company caught putting arbitrary keyloggers in products can and should be condemned. Companies still track large amounts of data and pull shady antics, but the big difference is there is a means of holding US companies to account if they violate privacy standards, not least of which is through uncensored condemnation and legal action. That is not possible in China.

      More stringent privacy norms and protections in the US would be welcomed. That doesn’t mean the status quo is comparable to China.

      2 replies →

  • brigandish  4 years ago

    Freedom of speech has two associated actions - speaking and listening - each with the same aspects of freedom - whether, when and to whom to speak/listen.

    For example, we normally think about the opposite of free speech as speech being suppressed, but being made to speak, to people you don't wish to speak to, at a time that is not of your choosing, none of that is freedom of speech even though you expressed your thoughts.

    Hence, there is no freedom of speech without privacy. That's why it often gets wrapped up in the, in my view far better, phrase freedom of expression.

10u152  4 years ago

How is stealing users credit card information and all keystrokes free speech again ?

  • walls  4 years ago

    Reading is tough, but the parent comment is about allowing TikTok to exist in the west.

    Also, as mentioned in the first sentence of the article, this is exactly what Meta does in the Facebook and Instagram apps.

    • 10u152  4 years ago

      Wow pretty snarky.

      I’m not saying that others don’t do it. Just that it’s not speech ?