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How long unti we can only say positive things on the internet

Iain

I read an article today that made me wonder if it is something that would gain traction in this country:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c39r7p47wzgo

This week, China's Cyberspace Administration launched a two-month campaign to curb social media posts that "excessively exaggerate negative and pessimistic sentiments". The goal, according to authorities, is to "rectify negative emotions" and "create a more civilised and rational online environment".

In the crosshairs are narratives like "studying is useless" and "hard work is useless", as well as stories that promote "world-weariness".

Initially I thought nah, we are still a free society but then I started thinking of the recent use of the police to patrol social media for anyone saying things in support of organisations that the government consider problematic (think of the Middle East) - if you protest you easily end up in jail, if you write something on social media then having the police turn up on your doorstep is a realistic threat.

Our freedoms only really can be defined in the Citizens Charter and these are subject to all sorts of emergency powers and erosion as bills are passed granting more exemptions for the government. The current government have a sufficiently large majority that passing laws which curb our freedoms should be easy so long as they make small changes each time.

Think digital IDs, online age verification checks etc. Each one is a way to tie us to what we say and do in a way that they can track patterns of behaviour and use vague laws to act if they choose to.

So it is possible but do you think they have the appetite for making the population more compliant?

  • in reply to Deleted User

    Yeah I do get what you mean and to be honest trump has zero accountability at this point and neither does starmer but we are all expected to be accountable for every misinterpretation online 

    i think someone summed this up wrll for me when they said people make their own rules and don’t think of how it impacts others of diffenet mindsets 

  • in reply to 190E(Taylor’s version)

    Maybe I shouldn't have used Trump (although I hold that it trivially applies). However, it is the least relevant part of the more general point.

  • in reply to Deleted User

    Trump like all political powers will always have it from all sides he says something bad the the wrong sort of people will stick up for him making his statement only look even worse

    saybsomething good and it will instantly have those same people put a negative spin on it making it look bad 

    also as a party leader anyone in his party who says something that is not his own view will automatically be seen as his view 

    now im not going to weigh in on trump one way or another because by siding with his view on x y z makes you look like your a certain wh inclined by proxy 

  • I agree, it is disturbing. I dont think many are aware of organisations like EFF (US) or the Open Rights Group (UK) who fight for us. 

    https://www.eff.org/

    https://www.openrightsgroup.org/

    They are alert about related issues.

    The problem is that power will usually equate negativity to dissent (but negativity from "their side" will be fine). And conversely, Who will held a gov accountable for "negativity"?

    Isn't this obvious with Trump (And others)?

    I celebrate freedom of speech, expression / protest, civil disobedience...they are necessary for democracy.

    It is possible that they will do it, especially with AI that can "flag" these.

  • thing is look at celebrities especially Taylor swift who pretty much only spreads positivity people will ALWAYS turn it into a negative 

    If my chemical romance where still a super high band in the mainstream people would find a way to neg everything gee says too 

    also cliff richard one of the nicest people ever had false claims made against him that almost ruined his life 

    the internet is almost there to make peoples lives worse for some people 

  • If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing. It's not new.

    But it's also true that negativity feeds off itself. One negative person in a team can drag down the whole team. It is why you should have constructive criticism, suggests improvements, not just complain.

    I'm not sure their reframing isn't a good idea.