charonn0

joined 2 years ago
[–] charonn0@startrek.website 0 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I read the bill.

[–] charonn0@startrek.website 1 points 10 months ago (3 children)

The question is irrelevant to whether this bill is a good idea.

[–] charonn0@startrek.website 18 points 10 months ago

Musk's companies are already based in the US. The issues you raise, however valid, are not really relevant to a discussion of this bill.

[–] charonn0@startrek.website 17 points 10 months ago

I think there's definitely a case to be made that recommendation algorithms, etc. constitute editorial control and thus the platform may not be immune to lawsuits based on user posts.

[–] charonn0@startrek.website 85 points 10 months ago (17 children)

We’ve been covering many stories about a potential TikTok ban, including how unconstitutional it clearly is, how pointless it clearly is, and how even those who back it don’t seem to have a good explanation of why, beyond some vague handwaving about “China.”

The bill isn't nearly as bad as they want you to think. It bans companies in Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran from operating social media apps in US markets, forcing them to sell if they already do. These four countries are already restricted from accessing sensitive parts of the US economy, with forced sale being a legal option. Really, the only novel part of the bill is applying these kinds of restrictions to software.

And the bill doesn't actually punish or restrain users' speech. It does restrain the social media company's speech, but that may not be enough to overturn the bill on 1st amendment grounds. If you understand that social media exists to collect vast amounts of user data then you must also understand how the government has a legitimate interest in keeping that data out of an adversary's hands. The only real question is whether the government has a compelling interest, because that's the standard that a court would apply to this bill. And I daresay it might.

[–] charonn0@startrek.website 13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

She's not being attacked for the crimes of her son, though. She's being criticized as a hypocrite.

[–] charonn0@startrek.website 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I wouldn't hang my hat on that statistic until after autonomous cars make up a significant portion of cars on the road.

[–] charonn0@startrek.website 185 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (13 children)

The Verge reported that CEO Sundar Pichai defended the layoffs and claimed that workers sometimes reach out to express gratitude for the cuts. “And I just want to clarify that, through these changes, people feel it on the ground and sometimes people write back and say, ‘Thank you for simplifying.’ Sometimes we have a complicated, duplicative structure,” he said, per the Verge.

Chalmers: People send thank you's for lay offs?

Pichai: Yes.

Chalmers: May I see one?

Pichai: No.

[–] charonn0@startrek.website 141 points 11 months ago (31 children)

This popped up over the weekend on my work PC. It was an emergency and I absolutely needed to get to my desktop ASAP.

Nope. Full screen advertisement for Windows 11 demanding my immediate and undivided attention. Blocking all other functions, commands, and inputs. I must interact with this ad or else I cannot use my computer.

Fuck. That.

I am never installing Windows 11. I am never buying another Microsoft operating system. Specifically because of this sort of heavy-handed dark patterned bullshit. Not to mention the fact that Windows 10 is dog shit.

[–] charonn0@startrek.website 3 points 11 months ago

The idea of checks and balances on the exercise of government powers extends to even the state/federal relationship.

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