4 ms·

In some online communities, there are people who can't write which country they are from because the name of their country is offensive from a USA-centric point

In some online communities, there are people who can't write which country they are from because the name of their country is offensive from a USA-centric point of view. I don't even know if those names raise flags here on HN, so, I'll just give their capital cities: Podgorica, Niamey, Abuja. Your name / title / country name could be safe in your own country but seem offensive to someone with an international bias.

sandstrom 5y ago
Good point! Similarly, there are also countries that are "offensive" from a Chinese point of view. This journalist cannot even mention the name "Taiwan" and "country" in the same sentence without this WHO guy (from Canada!) treating her like pariah. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlCYFh8U2xM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlCYFh8U2xM
- ljm 5y ago
  Let's be fair here, the issue with Taiwan is a geopolitical one. The same as it is with Israel and Palestine. And with many countries, territories, and borders, that are contested. This isn't the same as the sheer ignorance it takes to assume that countries Nigeria, Montenegro, and Niger are connected to the US's issues with race and are therefore offensive. A US diplomat isn't going to sanction you for recognising Nigeria as a country. I'm also unaware of what such a person would call these countries instead.
  - sandstrom 5y ago
    Its the same type of cancel culture, but this time it's a country being "offended", not a person. https://qz.com/1911573/virtual-youtubers-suspended-after-calling-taiwan-a-country/ https://qz.com/1911573/virtual-youtubers-suspended-after-cal... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/26/john-cena-very-sorry-for-saying-taiwan-is-a-country https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/26/john-cena-very... https://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphjennings/2018/01/17/corporations-will-quickly-comply-as-china-pressures-them-to-stop-calling-taiwan-a-country/?sh=200bc9809bf4 https://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphjennings/2018/01/17/corpor... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-31/nasa-is-the-latest-to-offend-china-by-calling-taiwan-a-country https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-31/nasa-is-t... https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4018580 https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4018580
cornstalks 5y ago
No one is offended by the country names Montenegro, Niger, and Nigeria.
- sacado2 5y ago
  No human is offended by those (I hope), but poorly-configured bots are easily triggered and can get an author censored or temporarily banned, or just annoy human moderators with irrelevant automated reports.
- sofixa 5y ago
  There was that Tiktoker who was shocked and offended to learn of Montenegro, but i have no idea if it's real or fake.
RankingMember 5y ago
I'm in agreement that some vBulletin forums have laughable censorship, but it'd be because of incompetence that those country names would be filtered out, not because there's some kind of fear of saying/using those country names in the US.
- sacado2 5y ago
  Absolutely, I didn't formulate that clearly enough in my comment I guess, because you're not the only one saying this.

sandstrom 5y ago

Good point! Similarly, there are also countries that are "offensive" from a Chinese point of view. This journalist cannot even mention the name "Taiwan" and "country" in the same sentence without this WHO guy (from Canada!) treating her like pariah. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlCYFh8U2xM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlCYFh8U2xM

ljm 5y ago
Let's be fair here, the issue with Taiwan is a geopolitical one. The same as it is with Israel and Palestine. And with many countries, territories, and borders, that are contested. This isn't the same as the sheer ignorance it takes to assume that countries Nigeria, Montenegro, and Niger are connected to the US's issues with race and are therefore offensive. A US diplomat isn't going to sanction you for recognising Nigeria as a country. I'm also unaware of what such a person would call these countries instead.
- sandstrom 5y ago
  Its the same type of cancel culture, but this time it's a country being "offended", not a person. https://qz.com/1911573/virtual-youtubers-suspended-after-calling-taiwan-a-country/ https://qz.com/1911573/virtual-youtubers-suspended-after-cal... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/26/john-cena-very-sorry-for-saying-taiwan-is-a-country https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/26/john-cena-very... https://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphjennings/2018/01/17/corporations-will-quickly-comply-as-china-pressures-them-to-stop-calling-taiwan-a-country/?sh=200bc9809bf4 https://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphjennings/2018/01/17/corpor... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-31/nasa-is-the-latest-to-offend-china-by-calling-taiwan-a-country https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-31/nasa-is-t... https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4018580 https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4018580

cornstalks 5y ago

No one is offended by the country names Montenegro, Niger, and Nigeria.

sacado2 5y ago
No human is offended by those (I hope), but poorly-configured bots are easily triggered and can get an author censored or temporarily banned, or just annoy human moderators with irrelevant automated reports.
sofixa 5y ago
There was that Tiktoker who was shocked and offended to learn of Montenegro, but i have no idea if it's real or fake.

RankingMember 5y ago

I'm in agreement that some vBulletin forums have laughable censorship, but it'd be because of incompetence that those country names would be filtered out, not because there's some kind of fear of saying/using those country names in the US.

sacado2 5y ago
Absolutely, I didn't formulate that clearly enough in my comment I guess, because you're not the only one saying this.