
Microsoft Bans “Offensive Language” from Skype - the_one_forever
https://professional-troublemaker.com/2018/03/25/microsoft-bans-offensive-language-from-skype/
======
the_trapper
What is up with the sudden intense push for all of this Orwellian censorship
lately?

Between this, Facebook, Google, and reddit trying to censor anything they deem
to be wrongthink and the very hard push to deny American citizens their Second
Amendment rights, I may have to consider purchasing some tin foil headgear.

It's become open season on the Bill of Rights lately.

It's starting to get more than just a little bit scary.

~~~
Khaine
I think it was the election of Trump. Everyone expected Clinton to win. Most
people in silicon valley and most costal elites (i.e. journalists) lean more
to the left. I think there collective shock at the election result, combined
with the fact that their services (i.e. facebook scandal, or how the media
reported on trump) may have contributed to it have resulted into a doubling
down on purging _wrong think_.

~~~
Khaine
To add to this. More and more people are living in bubbles of ideological
similarity[1]. There isn't really an exchange of ideas anymore between people
who have divergent views. These days it is between moderates and extremists on
the same side, rarely against someone who opposes an idea.

So when something happens that goes so against the grain, that is so shocking
it demands a response you see the results like "trump derangement syndrome".
Where everything bad the president does is hyped up far more than was under
previous presidents, and every effort is made to return to the status quo.

Not to say that Trump is a good president, far from it. But Barack Obama
banned people from travelling from the same countries as Trump and there
wasn't massive outrage, protest and court challenges.

Societies are becoming more fragmented. Less and less are believing in the
American dream or its equivalent and this is the outcome. I hope this isn't
the start of the decline and decay and slow slide to irrelevance of the West
like it was for so many past civilisations.

[1] [http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/30/i-can-tolerate-
anything...](http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/09/30/i-can-tolerate-anything-
except-the-outgroup/)

------
bjpbakker
> When investigating alleged violations of these Terms, Microsoft reserves the
> right to review Your Content in order to resolve the issue.

This is actually the most scary part of it. Not only you give up your freedom
of speech when using their services, but you grant MS the rights to actively
review all your data. That includes all your documents, emails, skype calls,
etc.

Basically you give up any remaining online privacy regarding MS services.

~~~
tenpies
And anyone who has ever moderated a community knows how frequently people get
reporting for having a contrarian or unpopular opinions. This is ripe for
abuse and setting a path for MS to castigate thoughtcrime.

------
versteegen
Couldn't believe the headline, but wow, it's actually an understatement.
Sharing "inappropriate content" including "for example ... offensive language"
is banned from all Microsoft services.

But from the context, it seems that by "offensive language" they mean hate
speech. Maybe. Or anything they want.

------
cstrance
What happens if I am writing a book and save a draft with office online that
contains an expletive that might offend someone, would I loose all my content
and work?

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tsaoutourpants
Article author here. Thanks for posting! Happy to answer any questions,
although Microsoft's terms are perhaps self-explanatory.

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us0r
I thought Skype was now encrypted?

~~~
panarky
What you want is end-to-end encryption, not just encryption between Microsoft
and the client.

Skype was rolling out end-to-end encryption using the Signal protocol, I don't
know if everyone has it now.

In any case, it's only available for voice not video, and you have to know to
request a "private conversation" since it's not e2e encrypted by default.

[https://www.wired.com/story/skype-end-to-end-encryption-
voic...](https://www.wired.com/story/skype-end-to-end-encryption-voice-text/)

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zaarn
People are still using Skype?

~~~
dingdongding
Yes. Microsoft employees still use Skype

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the_one_forever
We need to wait and watch. Let us see what official statements come from their
spokesperson.

