
WeChat uses one censorship policy in China and another internationally - BuuQu9hu
https://citizenlab.org/2016/11/wechat-china-censorship-one-app-two-systems/
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b6
I lived in China for 3 years and speak pretty decent Mandarin. I'm really
grateful people are doing analyses like this, but, and I am very sad to say
this, I think it may not matter because very few people want to discuss
anything subversive anyway.

Recently I tried to engage with my oldest Chinese friend about the Sesame
Credit system that I think will gradually be adapted to compel more and more
obedience. It was like water off a duck's back. As far as she was concerned,
the government's description was the end of the story.

Anecdote, of course, but I can't do a real survey. My feeling is that I could
try all day (speaking very frankly on WeChat) to get Chinese friends to at
least understand my concerns and I'd just get blown off 20 different ways. I
hope I'm wrong, that it's just my limited experience that makes the situation
seem gloomier than it really is.

~~~
mahranch
> As far as she was concerned, the government's description was the end of the
> story.

This is what people don't get about China. " _Ooohh yeah, China will take the
U.S down a few pegs, go China!_ " this is a very popular sentiment on reddit's
/r/Worldnews or with any cynical millennial on reddit. They eat up all the
blatant propaganda that comes out of either Xinhua or the People's Daily
(China's very own English language, government-owned & ran propagand... erm, I
mean "news agency"). China literally, not figuratively, brainwashes its
citizens. And they do so from a very early age: Japan is evil!. I get a kick
when I hear people say how China hates Japan and Japan hates China. I'm sorry,
but relatively speaking, it's a one-sided hatred -- just go search youtube for
people asking random Japanese people down the street what they think of China.
There are dozens and dozens of them, all by different youtubers and done at
various times over the last 10 years.

What they don't understand is that if China replaced or supplanted the U.S as
the world's sole superpower, things would be a whole hell of a lot different
than they are now. China would most definitely exert its influence in a way
that the world has yet to see. The U.S is far from perfect but they are, by
*orders of magnitude, the lesser evils. They're simply benign by comparison.
Under Chinese rule, it would most certainly not be benign and many of our
freedoms would erode the more powerful China got. Until one day we wake up to
a global "great firewall". Sounds like an exaggeration but as someone who has
lived in China, I assure you, it's not.

~~~
alextooter
Are you sure about it's on-side hatred?

Here is the data: [http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/07/18/americas-global-image-
re...](http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/07/18/americas-global-image-remains-more-
positive-than-chinas/)

Only 5% Japanese like China.Its strange,because China never invaded Japan.

~~~
mahranch
Those are general opinions about the country itself, not personal opinions.
The question they ask is; Do you have a positive opinion of China? The
Japanese could be taking the question to mean: Do you think China likes you?
Or any other variation... It's not necessarily "Do you _hate_ China". In fact,
I'd argue that's not the question at all.

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rdlecler1
The bigger issue is not just censorship but the potential governments access
to communications of non-Chinese commercial actors. While it's common to do
business on WeChat I don't know if anyone outside of China would feel
confident that this isn't a security risk.

~~~
dragonbonheur
Do you honestly think US-based services are exempt from NSA/NRO/CIA snooping
and should be trusted?

~~~
inimino
Do you think the NSA is going to give your trade secrets to a domestic
competitor? That's the concern.

~~~
Cerium
If you are discussing trade secrets on WeChat or Facebook Messenger I feel
like you are doing it wrong. Any 3rd party communications service should not
pass due diligence.

~~~
rdlecler1
But that's exactly how WeChat is used in China. And really no different that
having google host your email.

------
est
Last time Facebook did this, HN users think it's not censorship

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13019654](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13019654)

~~~
nothrabannosir
I don't understand this game of linking to one reply in the middle of a thread
and claiming "this is what HN thinks." The actual top comment on that article
says "damn that's evil." Doesn't that count?

Hnwatch, which should be a good thing (why not keep a sanity check on
things?), does the same. What point are you trying to make? "Someone said
something!" ???

~~~
inimino
Pretty sure the point is the double standard. Plenty of people are fine with
Facebook doing it, but where are those same people standing up for Wechat's
right to do whatever they want in their private walled garden?

~~~
nothrabannosir
The crucial missing word is "some". "Some HN users thought lalala." It dilutes
the sentence appropriately and shows how meaningless it truly is.

Some HN users think chemtrails are real. I saw one of those comments. So what?

~~~
inimino
Obviously not every HN user has the same perspective, but there are broad
tendencies. HN is not a random sampling of mankind.

If product A is praised for doing something while product B is unanimously
condemned for doing the exact same thing in another country, it is reasonable
to point that out.

Plenty of people were eager to point out that Facebook censoring fake news
wouldn't really be censorship, because it is not being done by the government
but by a private company. Of course, that's exactly how it works in China. So
where are all of those people on this story, pointing out that what Wechat
does isn't really censorship and that this really isn't really a free speech
issue?

~~~
est
> because it is not being done by the government but by a private company.

Well there's term for that: self-censorship.

