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The notion of a government watching over group conversations is scary.

by emteycz 5y ago

kybernetyk 5y ago
Sadly to most Europeans it's not scary. Even with the terrible track record of European governments.
sveme 5y ago
Is it a group or a public forum? With the t.me links, isn't it more like a public forum?
- emteycz 5y ago
  When have you seen a police officer at public forums? I never saw one, and I don't want to see them online.
BurningPenguin 5y ago
Most governments are not interested in you talking nonsense in your group. They're interested in people planning to overthrow them or other criminal acts. Depending on the type of government that might be good or bad.
dtech 5y ago
We seem pretty used to the idea that the NSA basically watches everything, which we've known since Snowden
- emteycz 5y ago
  I'm still not used to it. I bet it's not just me too, it's just hard to change for us.
Applejinx 5y ago
The notion of a platform watching over group conversations, with its only purpose being engagement, is scarier. There is nothing more engaging than existential threat. As long as anybody anywhere stands to benefit from fomenting the idea of existential threat and using the terror thus inspired to get a social group to exterminate a selected other social group… which is then itself under existential threat and can respond in kind… the only refuge to this is something like a government or legal system watching over this. Otherwise competitive pressure will ensure that the platform fomenting the most fear of existential threat will have the most engagement and will prosper. YouTube seems to have already recognized this and is grappling with it in its own way. I doubt Telegram has any wish to moderate its real purpose for existence and undermine the engagement it must have to survive. And there is nobody who cannot be turned monstrous through invoking existential threat: all the better if it's a realistic fear, it will persist long after the tables are turned and the victim has become the monster in turn. History has shown this really clearly.

The notion of a government watching over group conversations is scary.

kybernetyk 5y ago

Sadly to most Europeans it's not scary. Even with the terrible track record of European governments.

sveme 5y ago

Is it a group or a public forum? With the t.me links, isn't it more like a public forum?

emteycz 5y ago
When have you seen a police officer at public forums? I never saw one, and I don't want to see them online.

BurningPenguin 5y ago

Most governments are not interested in you talking nonsense in your group. They're interested in people planning to overthrow them or other criminal acts. Depending on the type of government that might be good or bad.

dtech 5y ago

We seem pretty used to the idea that the NSA basically watches everything, which we've known since Snowden

emteycz 5y ago
I'm still not used to it. I bet it's not just me too, it's just hard to change for us.

Applejinx 5y ago

The notion of a platform watching over group conversations, with its only purpose being engagement, is scarier. There is nothing more engaging than existential threat. As long as anybody anywhere stands to benefit from fomenting the idea of existential threat and using the terror thus inspired to get a social group to exterminate a selected other social group… which is then itself under existential threat and can respond in kind… the only refuge to this is something like a government or legal system watching over this. Otherwise competitive pressure will ensure that the platform fomenting the most fear of existential threat will have the most engagement and will prosper. YouTube seems to have already recognized this and is grappling with it in its own way. I doubt Telegram has any wish to moderate its real purpose for existence and undermine the engagement it must have to survive. And there is nobody who cannot be turned monstrous through invoking existential threat: all the better if it's a realistic fear, it will persist long after the tables are turned and the victim has become the monster in turn. History has shown this really clearly.