7 ms·

Why was it censored within 30 minutes? Surely a benign post would not lead to such extreme government efforts.

FooBarWidget 5y ago
Because censorship doesn't work the way you think it works. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29344676 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29344676
- tomatofarmer 5y ago
  It works exactly how I think it works. As long as no one takes notice, I am free to say whatever I want. You should reflect on how much effort you spend defending such a regime all over this website, twitter, and elsewhere.
  - FooBarWidget 5y ago
    Well you're ignoring the fact that the Chinese government is very open to criticisms and actually regularly change policies based on criticism, despite the counter-intuitive act of simultaneously censoring some critics. I have reflected and I disagree with you. Explaining how China works and presenting alternative views is not "defending [an evil] regime", thank you very much.
    - tomatofarmer 5y ago
      I am not ignoring that such a thing might happen. The regime must be able to doublespeak. Allowing a small amount of safe criticism and changing policies allows those in power to deflect and convince people who aren't paying attention. Any criticism that is a legitimate threat is met with blanket censorship - as in the case of Peng Shuai - or deadly violence as in the case of Tiananmen.
      - FooBarWidget 5y ago
        You are free to disagree and I am free to disagree with you. But I am sure glad that 98% of Chinese people are happy and feel that the country is heading in the right direction, and I am glad that the world has a diverse set of governance systems.
        miohtama 5y ago
        How do you know 98% Chinese people are happy if there is no credible, independent study? Surely any study saying Chinese are unhappy would be censored.
        FooBarWidget 5y ago
        Here you go, independent study by York University https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/05/did-pandemic-shake-chinese-citizens-trust-their-government/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/05/did-pande...
        robbedpeter 5y ago
        This one actually made me belly laugh, thanks for that. It's not independent, a study, or by York University, it was a ccp sponsored poll performed in China, by party members, with data collated and compiled by party members. It's rare to see propaganda crumble to so delicate an interrogation, that's some primo stuff.
        FooBarWidget 5y ago
        And where do you get that it's a poll by party members? The author even explicitly stated that the survey was anonymous. The author states that their findings are consistent with other studies.
        deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
        5y ago
    - Buttersite 5y ago
      Fuck off bootlicker
  - twojacobtwo 5y ago
    > You should reflect on how much effort you spend defending such a regime all over this website (...) Wow, you're right about that. I thought you might have been saying it as an offhand comment, but I just looked through the 4 most recent pages of FooBarWidget's comments and only 2 comments of those listed were not directly defending or espousing CCP talking points. Potential shill? edit: Their earlier comments have a higher 'normal' to shill-esque ratio, but the greater majority of their comments that I have seen are shill-like.
    - sudosysgen 5y ago
      That's perfectly normal. If you're going to be accused of being a shill you might as well silo your accounts into one for serious matter and one everyone is going to adhominem into extinction.
      - Tostino 5y ago
        I know it's not kosher here to accuse others of shilling, but you are acting like it doesn't happen. It absolutely does, all the time. Less on HN than other social media, maybe, but this place is far from immune.
        sudosysgen 5y ago
        I'm sure it happens in the abstract. They're definitely not a shill though. As far as we've seen China has no shill operation outside of its borders outside of bots and some vote manipulation by Chinese companies for profit.
        bardan 5y ago
        I have personally noted a large quantity of CCP propaganda turning up on other social media. Voted up unusually high, unusually early, and by accounts that regularly wind up banned by the admins. As a normal user it can be hard to differentiate real shill accounts from motivated nationalists and/or supremacists, but it's absurd to say this sort of thing isn't likely going on, certainly not to claim any absolute knowledge of the subject.

Because censorship doesn't work the way you think it works. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29344676 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29344676

tomatofarmer 5y ago
It works exactly how I think it works. As long as no one takes notice, I am free to say whatever I want. You should reflect on how much effort you spend defending such a regime all over this website, twitter, and elsewhere.
- FooBarWidget 5y ago
  Well you're ignoring the fact that the Chinese government is very open to criticisms and actually regularly change policies based on criticism, despite the counter-intuitive act of simultaneously censoring some critics. I have reflected and I disagree with you. Explaining how China works and presenting alternative views is not "defending [an evil] regime", thank you very much.
  - tomatofarmer 5y ago
    I am not ignoring that such a thing might happen. The regime must be able to doublespeak. Allowing a small amount of safe criticism and changing policies allows those in power to deflect and convince people who aren't paying attention. Any criticism that is a legitimate threat is met with blanket censorship - as in the case of Peng Shuai - or deadly violence as in the case of Tiananmen.
    - FooBarWidget 5y ago
      You are free to disagree and I am free to disagree with you. But I am sure glad that 98% of Chinese people are happy and feel that the country is heading in the right direction, and I am glad that the world has a diverse set of governance systems.
      - miohtama 5y ago
        How do you know 98% Chinese people are happy if there is no credible, independent study? Surely any study saying Chinese are unhappy would be censored.
        FooBarWidget 5y ago
        Here you go, independent study by York University https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/05/did-pandemic-shake-chinese-citizens-trust-their-government/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/05/05/did-pande...
        robbedpeter 5y ago
        This one actually made me belly laugh, thanks for that. It's not independent, a study, or by York University, it was a ccp sponsored poll performed in China, by party members, with data collated and compiled by party members. It's rare to see propaganda crumble to so delicate an interrogation, that's some primo stuff.
        FooBarWidget 5y ago
        And where do you get that it's a poll by party members? The author even explicitly stated that the survey was anonymous. The author states that their findings are consistent with other studies.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
      - 5y ago
  - Buttersite 5y ago
    Fuck off bootlicker
- twojacobtwo 5y ago
  > You should reflect on how much effort you spend defending such a regime all over this website (...) Wow, you're right about that. I thought you might have been saying it as an offhand comment, but I just looked through the 4 most recent pages of FooBarWidget's comments and only 2 comments of those listed were not directly defending or espousing CCP talking points. Potential shill? edit: Their earlier comments have a higher 'normal' to shill-esque ratio, but the greater majority of their comments that I have seen are shill-like.
  - sudosysgen 5y ago
    That's perfectly normal. If you're going to be accused of being a shill you might as well silo your accounts into one for serious matter and one everyone is going to adhominem into extinction.
    - Tostino 5y ago
      I know it's not kosher here to accuse others of shilling, but you are acting like it doesn't happen. It absolutely does, all the time. Less on HN than other social media, maybe, but this place is far from immune.
      - sudosysgen 5y ago
        I'm sure it happens in the abstract. They're definitely not a shill though. As far as we've seen China has no shill operation outside of its borders outside of bots and some vote manipulation by Chinese companies for profit.
        bardan 5y ago
        I have personally noted a large quantity of CCP propaganda turning up on other social media. Voted up unusually high, unusually early, and by accounts that regularly wind up banned by the admins. As a normal user it can be hard to differentiate real shill accounts from motivated nationalists and/or supremacists, but it's absurd to say this sort of thing isn't likely going on, certainly not to claim any absolute knowledge of the subject.