
Coca-Cola just threatened online platforms to “rid ... inappropriate content” - mindfulhack
https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/26/21305065/coca-cola-pause-ads-facebook-social-platforms-july-boycott
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georgiatestprep
kudos moment from the coca-cola,

This act is a tight slap on the big brand who are willing to make money by
playing people's feeling.

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pnako
I'm trying to make sense of it all.

Social media is necessarily going to have racism, idiocy, profanity,
conspiracy theories and everything else. If you start having editorial
standards, it's not social media anymore.

Is Coca-Cola genuinely worried that their ads might appear alongside a rant
about immigrants from your right-wing uncle? I think there is an ulterior
motive but I'm not sure I can figure it out. Perhaps they sense that
controlling the "woke" narrative works in their interests as long as it
prevents people from going toward genuine radical and leftist, anti-
corporation ideas that might question how Coca-Cola is addicting people to
sugar and causing diabetes, how it treats trade unionists in Latin America,
and things like that. So Black Lives Matter, as long as they drink coke, and
we want to make sure they die of diabetes and not by police abuse.

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mindfulhack
There is so much wrong with capitalism. I am only just beginning to become
truly disillusioned with it fundamentally as a system.

I am a small capitalist. Small business owner. But it's clear we have to speak
up against these fundamental abuses that capitalism and capitalists are
perpetrating, at the very least.

I'm starting to think that socialism is more naturally aligned with what's
good about our tribal nature than capitalism is.

It doesn't have to be how it currently is.

~~~
captainredbeard
Resource allocation by bureaucracy sounds terrible.

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pgnas
Yes. It is a notable cause, however, when companies stop trying to make the
best product they can and instead, try to change the world .. it is a little
too much. There is more to this story, companies could care less about any of
that emotional stuff, they are essentially psychopaths/sociopaths.

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mindfulhack
I wanted to share this Verge article from a different angle than its main
theme of standing against racism, which I totally agree with.

I often fall prey to my own 'bad timing' in pointing things out in front of
'comment mobs' \- I fail to 'read the room' \- and I get eaten alive. But HN
seems to be more open-minded, analytical, and caring of many issues at all
times, no matter the moment, compared to other comment communities. So here I
am.

The alarming words I want to bring to HN readers' attention is what appears to
be now deleted text from the Coca-Cola media statement page, but the Verge
still quotes it as the original words:

> “We will take this time to reassess our advertising standards and policies
> to determine whether revisions are needed internally, and what more we
> should expect of our social media partners to rid the platforms of hate,
> violence and inappropriate content. We will let them know we expect greater
> accountability, action and transparency from them.”

What alarms me, as an advocate for free speech in the age of digital tribalism
and censorship, is their original words, "rid the platforms of ...
inappropriate content", strong-arming Facebook from a money point of view.

To use such sweeping, broad words from the house of the world's largest brand
is a gross attempt to abuse capitalism to stifle free speech and diversity of
expression, which IMO needs to be spoken out against.

It may have just been badly worded (far too broad), but it was irresponsible
to say such words and it's no wonder that version is not on the website now.
Too late - the words are out.

Moments like this of reacting against genuine bad things can result in
throwing babies out with the bathwater. Privacy, free speech, freedom of
diversity.

We must always be watching.

