
Unwitting users of WeChat aid the app’s blacklisting of sensitive images - larrysalibra
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3018725/how-unwitting-users-wechat-aid-chinese-messaging-apps
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jonplackett
Still not clear how users are 'helping' exactly? Seems like they just have
their chats filtered. What am I missing?

This is a frustrating article to read. Every sentence and paragraph from the
start to about 3/4 down just repeats the same information as is in the
headline over and over again in a different format.

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acqq
After reading the article it seems to me that, contrary to the title, the
users don't do anything to actively "aid" the built-in blacklisting in the
app?

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crusty
If the image classification for censorship is applied to all images sent
worldwide, but only China-based accounts get censored, then just by using the
app among non-China-registered accounts to share images that would be
sensitive in China, uncensored users are unwittingly helping to build the
censored image database before users in China ever try to share the material.

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acqq
By that logic every internet user everywhere is “helping“ because wechat can
train their algorithms on any public picture “before”.

It‘s just a false claim that the “users” are helping.

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altmind
abbridged: hash of an image, ocr to detect forbidden phrases, manual post-fact
clsasification by contractors and:

"Image filtering only occurred when at least one of the chat participants had
an account registered to a mainland Chinese number"

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adamleo
Users don't do anything because they don't care. Chinese people have the
mentality that makes them think, I didn't do anything wrong so what am I
afraid of?

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adrianN
The same mentality can be seen in the West too.

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maxheadroom
> _The same mentality can be seen in the West too._

Most demonstrated, IMPE, by the phrase, " _You have nothing to fear, if you
have nothing hide._ "

