It’s been interesting to see big techno-libertarian voices dodge the looming Tiktok ban by offering a half-hearted, comparatively limp-dicked rebuke that would have been a huge deal under any other circumstance.

[fromjason@mastodon.social]

It’s been interesting to see big techno-libertarian voices dodge the looming Tiktok ban by offering a half-hearted, comparatively limp-dicked rebuke that would have been a huge deal under any other circumstance.

The government is censoring one of the largest speech platforms for Americans. This is your armageddon. I figured they’d be marching in the streets.

[fromjason@mastodon.social]

Could it be, is it so? The free speech crusade is a merely a front so that big tech can continue taking advantage of Americans unfettered.

[thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange]

@fromjason it's complicated. The libertarian wing of free speech supporters is also very pro-market and many of the orgs are funded by big tech. There's also a wing who are opposed to big tech but work together when interests align, which potentially leaves them open to being coopted. There's a similar dynamic on FISA and age verification software. It's tricky!

[fromjason@mastodon.social]

@thenexusofprivacy yeah that's my issue with the ideology and techno-libertarianism as a whole. It's only nuanced when it's their self interests. But when it comes to protecting everyday Americans then it's absolutism with no room for compromise.

[fromjason@mastodon.social]

@thenexusofprivacy if both corporate and government censorship is oppression why do they get to decide under which conditions our oppressors can operate? (Is my rhetorical question)

[thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange]

@fromjason Well, the First Amendment only applies to government attempts to regulate speech; I think there's general agreement (and not just with techno-libertarians) that corporations can regulate speech on their platforms as long as it doesn't discriminate against a protected class.

Where it gets messy is that some techno-libertarians think that corporations should be free to discriminate; others want to add "conservatives" as protected class (a great example of how it's only nuanced when it's their self interests). And some techno-libertarians think that people shouldn't be able to block them, funny how that works.

In the TikTok case, another complication is that some people genuinely do see it as a national security issue (while others are just using that as an excuse for xenophobiaa and/or trying to get rid of a platform that Black and brown are using effectively for activism and/or creating an opportunity for fascists to control another social network). I haven't been following the stuff in Romania enough to know whether China intentionally tried to manipulate the election or just let the disinfo happen, but either way it's not good. Of course this too is a double standard, Facebook and Xitter manipulate elections just as blatantly, but for people and orgs who see it that way it's harder to mount a full-fledged defense of TikTok.