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> First, without support from Apple and Google, any fight with a local regulator is lost before it starts ... Our website that hosts Telegram Web and the standa

> First, without support from Apple and Google, any fight with a local regulator is lost before it starts ... Our website that hosts Telegram Web and the standalone Telegram app for Android would be blocked by local telecoms in a matter of minutes. Even existing users would lose access to Telegram once Apple and Google turn off notifications for the app (which are used not only to deliver messages to users, but also to distribute unblocked IP addresses and dodge censorship). > Some users wish Telegram was 100% independent from everyone and could ignore Apple, Google and national laws of all countries. I also wish it was possible. But the reality we live in is different. I have warned the public many times of the danger that the Apple/Google duopoly poses for freedom of speech. And, as I wrote in August, the world is becoming more pro-censorship in general, with even democratic countries changing their definitions of free speech due to concerns of election interference from geopolitical rivals. This is the main issue - BigTech have grown too big and have too much influence now on politics since the US decided to sub-contract intelligence gathering and surveillance to them (as Snowden revealed). The author is right that democratic countries are now increasingly becoming pro-censorship and have an anti-privacy attitude.

echelon 5y ago
Who is downvoting you? We should never support censorship or the erosion of privacy. Preservation of these two is essential for our democracy and freedom.
- echelon 5y ago
  I've just lost the ability to edit posts. I was in the middle of an edit to add more commentary, and it failed. This hasn't ever happened to me on HN before. Can a moderator explain what is going on or why I'm being targeted? Edit button is completely gone on the above post. https://i.imgur.com/BnYuqx6.jpg https://i.imgur.com/BnYuqx6.jpg
  - LegitShady 5y ago
    HN has a time limit on how long you can edit posts after they go up - its not special its for everyone. You'd know about it but HN also has terrible design in terms of telling users what the heck is going on.
    - echelon 5y ago
      The post was less than five minutes old. I can still edit other posts which are older. Right now it's 19 minutes old (and uneditable), yet I can still edit a different 27 minute old comment. I crafted an edit URL for the post using its id, and I still can't edit it: https://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=28656231 https://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=28656231
      - LegitShady 5y ago
        I think its supposed to be 2 hours.
      - noxer 5y ago
        Probably when something gets down-voted/flagged edit is disabled so you cant "remove the evidence". But I'm just guessing HN internals are p proprietary.
  - saagarjha 5y ago
    Try clicking on the post itself and seeing if that page has an edit button?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- webmobdev 5y ago
  Yesterday I could only make two posts on HN before HN temporarily banned me with the message "Please slow down. You are posting too fast." This kind of ban is only for a few hours. I don't know if this ban is automatically triggered or mod initiated but believe the trigger for it is when some comments of mine receive high upvotes and downvotes (perhaps "flagging" the comment as "controversial / inflammatory"). And I guess it is part of HN's moderation tactic to ensure quality of content, and while it is annoying sometimes, I don't see any conspiracy in it. However, like you noticed, I do believe that some of my posts are targeted as part of the online marketing / "reputation management" that happens regularly all over the internet by BigTech. I am vocal about right to privacy, right to repair and need for government regulation of BigTech, and have noticed that if my posts on these subjects specifically mention Google, Apple, Microsoft or Amazon they are often downvoted (I once noticed a post go from 10 upvotes to 10 downvotes, in real-time, and that's when I realised what's happening). (Anyway, HN doesn't like this kind of discussion as it doesn't add much value due to its speculative nature and it tends to distract us from the main topic.)
  - saagarjha 5y ago
    Hacker News caps scores at -4.
    - webmobdev 5y ago
      What I noticed was that an attempt is made to keep the comment from gaining points and to keep it at 1 or 0 (this is what I meant when I said I saw a comment gaining points, and losing it just as fast). This is perhaps to ensure that vote brigading is not obvious.
  - echelon 5y ago
    I'm convinced FAAMNG are a partisan voting block. Occam's razor leads me to believe that it's organic behavior and not organized vote brigading. Perhaps employees or shareholders take opposition to negativity more frequently than not. Or maybe negative articles get posted on an internal company Slack and get extra attention. I suppose they could hire a service that does the same as a form of brand management, but I'm more inclined to think that those in our profession have simply forgotten the importance of privacy and speech when they're being paid not to care.

echelon 5y ago

Who is downvoting you? We should never support censorship or the erosion of privacy. Preservation of these two is essential for our democracy and freedom.

echelon 5y ago
I've just lost the ability to edit posts. I was in the middle of an edit to add more commentary, and it failed. This hasn't ever happened to me on HN before. Can a moderator explain what is going on or why I'm being targeted? Edit button is completely gone on the above post. https://i.imgur.com/BnYuqx6.jpg https://i.imgur.com/BnYuqx6.jpg
- LegitShady 5y ago
  HN has a time limit on how long you can edit posts after they go up - its not special its for everyone. You'd know about it but HN also has terrible design in terms of telling users what the heck is going on.
  - echelon 5y ago
    The post was less than five minutes old. I can still edit other posts which are older. Right now it's 19 minutes old (and uneditable), yet I can still edit a different 27 minute old comment. I crafted an edit URL for the post using its id, and I still can't edit it: https://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=28656231 https://news.ycombinator.com/edit?id=28656231
    - LegitShady 5y ago
      I think its supposed to be 2 hours.
    - noxer 5y ago
      Probably when something gets down-voted/flagged edit is disabled so you cant "remove the evidence". But I'm just guessing HN internals are p proprietary.
- saagarjha 5y ago
  Try clicking on the post itself and seeing if that page has an edit button?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
webmobdev 5y ago
Yesterday I could only make two posts on HN before HN temporarily banned me with the message "Please slow down. You are posting too fast." This kind of ban is only for a few hours. I don't know if this ban is automatically triggered or mod initiated but believe the trigger for it is when some comments of mine receive high upvotes and downvotes (perhaps "flagging" the comment as "controversial / inflammatory"). And I guess it is part of HN's moderation tactic to ensure quality of content, and while it is annoying sometimes, I don't see any conspiracy in it. However, like you noticed, I do believe that some of my posts are targeted as part of the online marketing / "reputation management" that happens regularly all over the internet by BigTech. I am vocal about right to privacy, right to repair and need for government regulation of BigTech, and have noticed that if my posts on these subjects specifically mention Google, Apple, Microsoft or Amazon they are often downvoted (I once noticed a post go from 10 upvotes to 10 downvotes, in real-time, and that's when I realised what's happening). (Anyway, HN doesn't like this kind of discussion as it doesn't add much value due to its speculative nature and it tends to distract us from the main topic.)
- saagarjha 5y ago
  Hacker News caps scores at -4.
  - webmobdev 5y ago
    What I noticed was that an attempt is made to keep the comment from gaining points and to keep it at 1 or 0 (this is what I meant when I said I saw a comment gaining points, and losing it just as fast). This is perhaps to ensure that vote brigading is not obvious.
- echelon 5y ago
  I'm convinced FAAMNG are a partisan voting block. Occam's razor leads me to believe that it's organic behavior and not organized vote brigading. Perhaps employees or shareholders take opposition to negativity more frequently than not. Or maybe negative articles get posted on an internal company Slack and get extra attention. I suppose they could hire a service that does the same as a form of brand management, but I'm more inclined to think that those in our profession have simply forgotten the importance of privacy and speech when they're being paid not to care.