4 ms·

I think the problem lies in the vague definition of "obscene" material. Nobody would have a problem blocking gratuitous nudity/violence from making it on their

by _yoqn 5y ago

I think the problem lies in the vague definition of "obscene" material. Nobody would have a problem blocking gratuitous nudity/violence from making it on their platform. But that's a very wide distinction from political/religious messaging.

throwawayay02 5y ago
I would. And you would too, take your favorite instant messaging app and imagine it started blocking nudity/violence. Or email.
pjc50 5y ago
> problem blocking gratuitous nudity/violence from making it on their platform. But that's a very wide distinction from political/religious messaging. It absolutely isn't! This famous Vietnam photo got banned at one point: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42864421 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42864421 .. because it shows violence. Is the famous "Piss Christ" photo obscene, political, religious, or all of those? https://creativetimereports.org/2015/01/30/free-speech-piss-christ-charlie-hebdo-andres-serrano/ https://creativetimereports.org/2015/01/30/free-speech-piss-... - so controversial it began the Republican movement to defund the arts, as if to prevent it ever having been made. Wherever you have a boundary, you can have a controversy.
ben_w 5y ago
I’m annoyed that Apple requires Telegram to block sexual content. I perceive sex as a generally positive thing, a common source of joy. I strongly dislike realistic violence, to the extent that the poster adverts for the Saw films are things I wish I had not seen. I think the frequency of it in popular entertainment reflects badly on the human condition. Nevertheless, I have recently seen there is evidence showing that violent media reduces real life violence, so even despite my visceral reaction I wouldn’t make a general censorship against violence just to satisfy my personal preferences: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/05/health/video-games-violence-explainer/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/05/health/video-games-violen... That said, simply because everyone is different, I think there is a place in the future for automated filtering on a personal basis. Perhaps a social media plug-in that stops me seeing violence, while somebody else has a different one that stopped them seeing nudity — and not the built-in ones! When Twitter started using “likes” as an alternative retweet, they kept showing me BDSM[1] that someone else liked. [1] For me, S&M in particular pattern matches to “violence” rather than “sex”, but (unlike the mere existence of gore films) that doesn’t mean I think it reflects badly on anyone. Like boxing, I don’t need to grok it: I trust the people-I-perceive-as-victims saying they enjoy it.

by _yoqn 5y ago

throwawayay02 5y ago

I would. And you would too, take your favorite instant messaging app and imagine it started blocking nudity/violence. Or email.

pjc50 5y ago

> problem blocking gratuitous nudity/violence from making it on their platform. But that's a very wide distinction from political/religious messaging. It absolutely isn't! This famous Vietnam photo got banned at one point: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42864421 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42864421 .. because it shows violence. Is the famous "Piss Christ" photo obscene, political, religious, or all of those? https://creativetimereports.org/2015/01/30/free-speech-piss-christ-charlie-hebdo-andres-serrano/ https://creativetimereports.org/2015/01/30/free-speech-piss-... - so controversial it began the Republican movement to defund the arts, as if to prevent it ever having been made. Wherever you have a boundary, you can have a controversy.

ben_w 5y ago

I’m annoyed that Apple requires Telegram to block sexual content. I perceive sex as a generally positive thing, a common source of joy. I strongly dislike realistic violence, to the extent that the poster adverts for the Saw films are things I wish I had not seen. I think the frequency of it in popular entertainment reflects badly on the human condition. Nevertheless, I have recently seen there is evidence showing that violent media reduces real life violence, so even despite my visceral reaction I wouldn’t make a general censorship against violence just to satisfy my personal preferences: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/05/health/video-games-violence-explainer/index.html https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/05/health/video-games-violen... That said, simply because everyone is different, I think there is a place in the future for automated filtering on a personal basis. Perhaps a social media plug-in that stops me seeing violence, while somebody else has a different one that stopped them seeing nudity — and not the built-in ones! When Twitter started using “likes” as an alternative retweet, they kept showing me BDSM[1] that someone else liked. [1] For me, S&M in particular pattern matches to “violence” rather than “sex”, but (unlike the mere existence of gore films) that doesn’t mean I think it reflects badly on anyone. Like boxing, I don’t need to grok it: I trust the people-I-perceive-as-victims saying they enjoy it.