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> It used to be that if you were queer - in any sense of the word - and lived in one of the countless small, conservative, traditional communities in this count
by 908B64B197 5y ago
> It used to be that if you were queer - in any sense of the word - and lived in one of the countless small, conservative, traditional communities in this country, you were shit out of luck.
Doesn't stop at the country's border: Social Media has been a gift to the whole world.
And it's not just queers either: just look at the 2011 Arab Spring. Suddenly, people could just get news from their peers, see live videos of what was really happening and not just the curated content allowed by the local warlord. They could see how westerners lived and wonder: "Why do I have to bribe everyone around me?" "Why can they just go to school and not me?" "Why are woman able to have jobs and walk down the streets without a man?" and "Why are they allowed multiple sources of information?"
There's a wonder some countries are trying hard to restrict internet access, and western social media. The great Firewall, Cuban Intranet, Egypt cutting out the countries network during protests...
- rayiner 5y agoAnd then what happened with the Arab Spring?
- barfingclouds 5y agoFacebook is also specifically used in countries to rally violence against ethnic minorities. As in literally assisting genocide. Looking at it with rose colored glasses is missing a lot of the point. In addition, Arab spring isn’t even a positive example. What have the aftermaths of that been?
- 908B64B197 5y ago> Facebook is also specifically used in countries to rally violence against ethnic minorities. If you banned all accounts from these countries you know what they would do? Switch to something else and keep doing the same thing. It's a cultural problem. > In addition, Arab spring isn’t even a positive example. What have the aftermaths of that been? Before the people had dictatorships and a rotten culture. Now they only have a rotten culture. Social networking can't fix every issues...
- hollerith 5y agoWhat Arab countries that were dictatorships at the start of the Arab Spring are now democracies? In Syria, 494,438–606,000 died a violent death, 6.6 million became refugees and 6.7 million became internally displaced -- and Syria still has the same dictator. Are you sure you don't want to concede that the Arab Spring's negative effects outweigh its positive effects?
- 908B64B197 5y ago> What Arab countries that were dictatorships at the start of the Arab Spring are now democracies? Tunisia.