
Not even the Hong Kong protests can get past Chinese censors [video] - avocado4
https://qz.com/1647908/not-even-the-hong-kong-protests-can-get-past-chinese-censors/
======
beloch
I wonder if we're about to see another big wave of emigration from Hong Kong,
like the one that occurred in the decade before Britain handed over HK to
Chinese control. Anyone who grew up in the 80's/90's in commonwealth countries
like Canada probably remembers seeing a lot of new faces from HK in school
pretty much every year.

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ilaksh
This is a whole other level, but there is something somewhat similar going on
with news in general in most countries, including the US.

People get their information from certain streams. It might be reddit, or
Hacker News, or certain subreddits on reddit. Or it could be WhatsApp or Fox
News. Or in some cases RSS feeds. Or some particular website.

But news streams tend to be attached to certain groups and certain worldviews.
And its not the same level as Chinese censorship, but when there is user
moderation support, the groups do automatically censor things that contradict
their worldviews.

From what I can see, just about everyone is living in their own alternate
reality that has been tailored to their particular political slant.

Here is an example: [https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/19/asia/viral-photo-hong-
kon...](https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/19/asia/viral-photo-hong-kong-
protests-trnd/index.html)

Some people who were promoting the protests were tweeting a doctored photo
that made the protests look larger than they were.

Again, that's a completely different level from totally censoring information.

Well, I guess I will go ahead and say something that may get the comment
buried. There are certain "conspiracy theories" that I believe that are
automatically censored from being visible on YouTube or other information
streams for the US.

So I think that it is correct to be concerned about how far China is gone, but
at the same time I don't think people realize that other countries are not
always impervious to this type of thing. And part of it has to do with just a
ubiquitous protection of worldviews. Which unfortunately are often dictated in
a top-down fashion to some degree. So I think its a worse problem than people
realize.

Or for example with HN and reddit, if you say something that too many people
disagree with, it becomes hidden. So for example my recent comment which I
thought was the most important one I had made recently:

"-4 points by ilaksh 1 day ago | parent [-] | on: Facebook Cryptocurrency Plan
Faces Opposition in F...

They are going to get the regulators in their pocket and play ball with them.
They will filter all transactions requested and provide a convenient place for
governments to go for information or control.

Its a way for companies to capitalize on the cryptocurrency hype, without,
ultimately, acting like a real cryptocurrency. Its going to be a giant bank
that has government law enforcement and intelligence agencies as its clients
and patrons.

This is sponsored by Visa and others. They are co-opting "cryptocurrency" for
their own purposes. The goal is for this to become mainstream before real
cryptocurrencies and take over before they can really get going for mainstream
payments.

I filed a bug report.
[https://github.com/libra/libra/issues/41](https://github.com/libra/libra/issues/41)
"

This comment is not seen by people unless they click the plus button, and its
unlikely they will do so.

Censorship and alternate realities are a core function of even Hacker News.

~~~
atmosx
Impervious? This event received extreme coverage from western media as opposed
to the protests in France, which have been equally violent and have been going
on for months.

We live in the same kind of bubble as the Chinese.

~~~
jdefr89
I wouldn’t say it is the same kind of bubble. Not all bubbles are created
equal. The bubble North Koreans live in vs the one we do are not equivalent.

------
cosmodisk
Just shows how 'great' China is...

~~~
dang
Please don't post unsubstantive comments here. Especially not flamebait.

------
cujic9
I've noticed a recent uptick in news promoting the cruelty of China toward its
citizens.

I struggle to figure out how much is true, and how much is an alternate
reality created by _my_ government. (I'm in the USA, and anger towards China
definitely benefits the Republican Party / Trump administration.)

~~~
beaner
This is silly. As a US citizen with the internet, you have easy access to
foreign press as well. Just go look at that and see how much of an alternate
reality we're not in regarding this topic.

~~~
cujic9
On a side note, I did some more digging, and:

The Agnelli family is the largest shareholder in the Economist. The
Rothschilds are second largest.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economist_Group#Ownership](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economist_Group#Ownership)

Also, as of 2015:

> Pearson’s move to sell most of its stake to Exor, the investment company run
> by the Agnellis, upholds a tradition of dynastic ownership of media assets.
> Rupert Murdoch owns News UK, which publishes the Sun and the Times, the
> Barclay brothers own the Telegraph, and the Rothermere family controls the
> Daily Mail titles. Overseas, the Sulzberger family owns the New York Times,
> the Springers control huge chunks of German media and the Bonnier family
> owns a large publishing portfolio in Sweden. Newspapers have long been the
> playthings of wealthy media barons who are seduced by the access and
> influence they bring.

[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/15/economist-
beco...](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/15/economist-becomes-a-
family-affair-agnellis)

Just because press is foreign doesn't mean it's objective or independent of
politics. News is a business, and just like any business, the owners make
decisions based on their beliefs.

~~~
beaner
Definitely true, but also besides the point. The comment in question was
suggesting government control/influence, not familial dynastic influence.

Also just because much press internationally is political doesn't mean they
share the same political perspectives. They are often at odds with each other
by region.

Further, the type of media controlled this way no longer has a monopoly in
information. Thanks to the internet, there are many smaller and diverse
organizations with perspectives now as easily accessible.

------
bhhaskin
This is nothing but click bait. Three paragraphs about how searching for Hong
Kong in china doesn't return any meaningful results. Pretty much just standard
censorship, and nothing about creating an "alternate reality." Also
interesting that the OP only seems to post negative stories about China.

~~~
beaner
I thought this too but there is an embedded video on the page and I guess
maybe that is what's being linked to.

