4 ms·

I am guessing that the bigger concern here is that this is an 'enabler' tactic to expand facial recognition in other areas of our lives. And if this is the case

I am guessing that the bigger concern here is that this is an 'enabler' tactic to expand facial recognition in other areas of our lives. And if this is the case, then there definitely needs to be some kind of ratification. Maybe this is unrelated, but it's starting to feel like every bad accident in this world is affecting us in this very strange way. For example, I was very surprised to find that Sri Lanka cut everyone off from social media "just like that". To think there are people with this kind of power seems a little frightening to say the least. But, what's even scarier is that these bombings and 'tragic' events tend to steer us in a very controlling direction. All of a sudden the government has an incentive to enforce more control over its citizens and society as a whole.

jMyles 8y ago
> All of a sudden the government has an incentive to enforce more control over its citizens and society as a whole. It's not sudden at all. The Reichstag fire [0] and the Reichstag Fire Decree [1], which is probably reasonably described as a pivotal part of the rise of Nazi Germany, demonstrate exactly the incentive you describe. At least as far back as 304 AD [2] - and probably further - people in power have noticed that they can exploit this incentive structure with a "false flag" attack. * 0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire * 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_Fire_Decree https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_Fire_Decree * 2 https://books.google.co.za/books?id=RDqyIcSLJ0AC&pg=PA164&lpg=PA164&redir_esc=y https://books.google.co.za/books?id=RDqyIcSLJ0AC&pg=PA164&lp...
zizee 8y ago
This is not a new thing in American history, and probably predates America's existence: https://prospect.org/article/when-fear-threatens-freedom https://prospect.org/article/when-fear-threatens-freedom > The pattern of responding to threats by curtailing rights began early in American history. In 1798, when the future of the country was in doubt, Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Act, which made it a crime to falsely criticize the government or government officials—men were sent to prison for speaking ill of certain individuals and decisions.
bayesian_horse 8y ago
In the particular case of Sri Lanka there is the problem of periodical violence between religious groups. Buddhists against Muslims and Christians, mostly. I think a temporary ban on social media is appropriate to mitigate such violence in the immediate aftermath of such a terrible attack. Immediately after the right-wing terrorist attack in Norway people thought it was committed by Muslims. Some people began utilizing the attack to blame Muslim immigrants. Some incidents of violence and verbal attacks have been reported. So, in the particular case of the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka, I'm not yet ready to judge the government action/inaction.
int_19h 8y ago
“Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.” The ongoing "global war on terrorism" is no exception.

jMyles 8y ago

> All of a sudden the government has an incentive to enforce more control over its citizens and society as a whole. It's not sudden at all. The Reichstag fire [0] and the Reichstag Fire Decree [1], which is probably reasonably described as a pivotal part of the rise of Nazi Germany, demonstrate exactly the incentive you describe. At least as far back as 304 AD [2] - and probably further - people in power have noticed that they can exploit this incentive structure with a "false flag" attack. * 0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire * 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_Fire_Decree https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_Fire_Decree * 2 https://books.google.co.za/books?id=RDqyIcSLJ0AC&pg=PA164&lpg=PA164&redir_esc=y https://books.google.co.za/books?id=RDqyIcSLJ0AC&pg=PA164&lp...

zizee 8y ago

This is not a new thing in American history, and probably predates America's existence: https://prospect.org/article/when-fear-threatens-freedom https://prospect.org/article/when-fear-threatens-freedom > The pattern of responding to threats by curtailing rights began early in American history. In 1798, when the future of the country was in doubt, Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Act, which made it a crime to falsely criticize the government or government officials—men were sent to prison for speaking ill of certain individuals and decisions.

bayesian_horse 8y ago

In the particular case of Sri Lanka there is the problem of periodical violence between religious groups. Buddhists against Muslims and Christians, mostly. I think a temporary ban on social media is appropriate to mitigate such violence in the immediate aftermath of such a terrible attack. Immediately after the right-wing terrorist attack in Norway people thought it was committed by Muslims. Some people began utilizing the attack to blame Muslim immigrants. Some incidents of violence and verbal attacks have been reported. So, in the particular case of the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka, I'm not yet ready to judge the government action/inaction.

int_19h 8y ago

“Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger.” The ongoing "global war on terrorism" is no exception.