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@rembrandt said in US Politics:
Will Trump do something?
Do you want him to do something? What would 'something' look like? An internet version of the 'fairness doctrine'? I can't see that ending well for those on the right calling for it
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@duluth said in US Politics:
@rembrandt said in US Politics:
Will Trump do something?
Do you want him to do something? What would 'something' look like? An internet version of the 'fairness doctrine'? I can't see that ending well for those on the right calling for it
I would start anti trust proceedings. Google is just to big and dominant.
If Microsoft could be hounded into breaking down, so can Google. -
@baron-silas-greenback said in US Politics:
Google is just to big and dominant.
I think that is where there can be progress.
There have been a lot of regulations called for in the last few years that all the big tech companies support. It's a classic case of regulatory capture.. the industry is too complex so experts need to write the rules. The government consults google etc to write regulations about their own industry. Of course the current market leaders want to raise the barriers for entry and entrench the status quo.
Also I don't think in-kind political donations are policed the same way for the tech companies as they are for the old media companies
However there is currently a push from some Trump supporters, to police what content private companies can decide to publish. That will not end well.
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@duluth That is the question alright. Anything he does could very well blow up in his face and will no doubt be presented as some authoritarian attempt to control private business. As Baron says Anti-trust laws could be an area, another too a possible Internet 'Bill of Rights'. Whatever happens he will need to tread very carefully.
I see the founder of the #Walkaway campaign has just been banned on Facebook. I'm sure this could all be coincidence but it does seem like a concerted effort to remove dissenting opinion prior to the mid-terms.
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The problem is the centralised and all-dominant nature of these tech companies. Blogs used to be great because they were decentralised and nobody had absolute control. Now pretty much all content is at the mercy of Google, Facebook and to a less extent Twitter. When you have all of the heavy hitters at Google acting like that (giving each other a hug ffs) and showing a clear and extreme bias, it does not give you much (or indeed any) confidence that they will fairly and adequately handle the responsibility that comes with their enormous power. Does anyone seriously believe after seeing that video that they will happily play the neutral observer in all this? Like farking hell they will. They will fight tooth and nail.
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@rembrandt said in US Politics:
I'm sure this could all be coincidence but it does seem like a concerted effort to remove dissenting opinion prior to the mid-terms.
Oh its definitely deliberate and it is a real issue.
However I think some of the context gets lost too. Sure this sort of censorship is worse than it was 5 years ago. Is it worse than it was 20, 30, 40 years ago?
When a handful of media companies had complete control of TV, radio and print the could 'deplatform' individuals/concepts and it would barely cause a ripple.
What recourse did a wronged party have have? Start a newsletter? Call into late night talk radio? Yet the media's preferred political candidates didn't always win.The ability to endlessly copy and transmit information means we are in far better position. Take your knowledge of all these scandals. You are well informed on this and you're half a world away. More and more people are noticing the unfairness all the time.. that is a massive improvement over the 20th century
The current censorship is largely whack-a-mole. The broader they target the more counter productive it will be.
But yes, that context doesn't change the fact that the recent history has been really shitty.
Another point I would make is that the social media networks and youtube and very vulnerable to new decentralised platforms (the rest of google and amazon are less vulnerable though)
My guess is we'll see a shift away from the top down model these companies follow. The technology seems close, the distrust of these entities exists with a growing number of consumers.. we'll see. -
The ironic thing about YouTube is that there's no way it would have become that big without being the all-out free for all that it was in the initial years. By policing the hell out of it they're destroying what made it an attractive alternative in the first place.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel and platforms like Twitch are saying thank you very much!! I've been following a few IRL streamers who (due to their content) got kicked from YouTube or are seeing how far they can push live streaming on YouTube. Given edited versions of the irl content get uploaded later they can still review/censor in the usual fashion, but unsure how they handle the live stuff aside from viewers reporting things or having staff actually watching it live?
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I normally ignore the ridiculous shit show that goes on when the US Senate seeks to confirm a new chief justice. The idiocy on both sides is sickening. I get that the stakes are high, but the whole circus is abhorent.
The latest chapter of this revolting process has been going on for weeks and at the 11th hour the Dems produce someone who claims she was sexually assaulted by the candidate when they were teenagers. Apparently she doesn't remember when this occurred (not even a year) but apparently it was all dredged up during couples therapy 6 years ago. Interestingly enough the mother of the candidate was the judge in a foreclosure lawsuit against the alleged victim's own family. You'd like to think that no self-respecting woman would put her head on the block if there was no truth to this. But given the hyperpartisan nature of US Politics who knows. But what I'd like to know is why this was pulled out by the Dems at the very last minute if they felt she was a credible witness? The whole thing stinks.
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@rancid-schnitzel Her story also doesn't match what she supplied during the couples therapy too....I guess that's the thing with 30 year old memories that just happen to come out at the most opportune moment..not the most reliable.
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@rembrandt said in US Politics:
@rancid-schnitzel Her story also doesn't match what she supplied during the couples therapy too....I guess that's the thing with 30 year old memories that just happen to come out at the most opportune moment..not the most reliable.
Not even being able to provide a year is particularly fishy. Doing that would enable Kavanagh to establish where he and his mates were at that time. There could be pictures, records etc. But by being so vague she can claim anything and it's impossible for him to refute. In the post Metoo world the Repubs also have to be super careful about how this is handled.
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I find this amusing as DJT is seemingly renowned for biting back over any perceived personal slur (like the small / big hands thing, and he's got words, the best words).
So regardless of fake news or otherwise this is an awesome troll by Stormy:
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@booboo said in US Politics:
I find this amusing as DJT is seemingly renowned for biting back over any perceived personal slur (like the small / big hands thing, and he's got words, the best words).
So regardless of fake news or otherwise this is an awesome troll by Stormy:
You are correct. Highest level trolling. Rock and a hard place for the Shroom
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Jeez the Kavanaugh controversy shows how fucking nasty the left is in the USA. Could they get any lower?
The allegations are ludicrous. The shit show currently happening is even worse.
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At first glance this is one for "Tennis" or perhaps the PC thread, but realistically fits here.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12129882
If so-called progressive forces really want to wrest power back from the populist tidal wave that is ploughing through the foundations of liberal democratic institutions the world over they need to stop worrying about the feelings of millionaire tennis players and White House martyrs and start worrying about the feelings of ordinary working people.
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booboo said:
At first glance this is one for "Tennis" or perhaps the PC thread, but realistically fits here.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12129882
If so-called progressive forces really want to wrest power back from the populist tidal wave that is ploughing through the foundations of liberal democratic institutions the world over they need to stop worrying about the feelings of millionaire tennis players and White House martyrs and start worrying about the feelings of ordinary working people.
By Joe Hildebrand. An excellent journalist and writer.
The quoted para hits the nail on the head. Following the election there was about half of second of introspection where this kind of point was acknowledged. But that of course soon disintegrated into the freak show we see now.
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booboo said:
At first glance this is one for "Tennis" or perhaps the PC thread, but realistically fits here.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12129882
If so-called progressive forces really want to wrest power back from the populist tidal wave that is ploughing through the foundations of liberal democratic institutions the world over they need to stop worrying about the feelings of millionaire tennis players and White House martyrs and start worrying about the feelings of ordinary working people.
That article encapsulates the current situation very well.
US Politics