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I was trying to find those “fake face masks” just so someone knew what I was talking about, and apparently they were all deplatformed from Google searches. I di

I was trying to find those “fake face masks” just so someone knew what I was talking about, and apparently they were all deplatformed from Google searches. I didn’t want to buy one, just reference it. But nada. Found it on DuckDuckGo and it’s now my default search engine. It’s just so offensive they think they should control what I’m exposed to. Creepy and offensive. Google has lost its mission of making the worlds information accessible in a fresh, horrible way. Tragic.

asiachick 5y ago
I just search for "fake face masks" on google and they came right up https://www.google.com/search?q=fake+face+mask&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=fake+face+mask&tbm=isch
- anonygler 5y ago
  That’s image search. Try searching for this company: https://fakemaskworldwide.com/all-products/ https://fakemaskworldwide.com/all-products/ There’s others like it that are also censored. First result for “Fake face masks” on DuckDuckGo.
- markdown 5y ago
  They sell a product that potentially puts people in real danger. Choosing not to wear a mask is fine. An immunocompromised person can choose to cross the street when they see you. This product, allowing you to pretend to wear a mask in order to get close to people that don't want to be near maskless people is evil. And a "Rittenhouse Walks" t-shirt? I'm glad they've been de-platformed. Good riddance!
  - Gareth321 5y ago
    This is a great example of censorship aligning with your biases. Today. A central theme to the discussion here is that, tomorrow, this censorship will likely not align with your biases. How will you feel about it then? We have millennia of practical examples of the fact that ceding the power to speak will always hurt us all in the end. It will eventually be used to silence you and whatever you believe is moral and just. This is why we must be willing to accept speech we don't like. Especially speech we don't like, because that's the speech which is removed first.
    - markdown 5y ago
      I hate to break it to you, but that was decided a long time ago, and we all agree to live by the biases of the majority. You don't want child porn on television at 7pm, do you?
  - colordrops 5y ago
    Using "immunocompromised people" as the excuse for every abuse of rights and ethics is the same as the right wing using "think of the children" or "the terrorists will get us".
    - Broken_Hippo 5y ago
      A mask is not a human rights abuse. You know the difference between "the terrorists will get us" and "wear a mask to help protect others"? Only the second one is based in fact. Just because you refuse to believe such doesn't change this.
      - colordrops 5y ago
        Are you intentionally misunderstanding? We are talking about censorship, not the policy around masks.
Gareth321 5y ago
I heard about "Proud Boys" a couple of years ago and went looking for more information to find out about their group so I could have an informed position on the subject. Google removed their website. I understand Google feeling compelled to remove extreme and illegal content, but this is not that. Google removed them for political and/or moral reasons. DuckDuckGo let me find the website and form my own opinions. Imagine how many other websites Google is withholding for political and moral reasons? How much of our general knowledge is now carefully shaped and curated by Google, because that's what they allow us to see? I also moved to DuckDuckGo. A search engine which removes the things you're looking for "for your protection" is no search engine at all.
- ComradePhil 5y ago
  I don't see how you can blame the company when they are controlled by people who threaten them in various ways; threatening them with regulation with public disinformation about them using mass media being one of them. I have no doubt some of the top level people there are also involved in some Epsteinisque plot so that these people can have more control over them. They're more than big enough to warrant such a thing. In my opinion, they are merely complying to these pressures. Google is not being threatened to be regulated by Proud Boys nor is it likely that Proud Boys members have some dirt on their executives. So, they have no reason to remove Proud Boys from their search engine from their business perspective. Therefore the only reason can be that someone who has power over them tells them what to do.
  - ekanes 5y ago
    Not holding them accountable simply because “but they have reasons” means no-one is ever accountable for anything.

asiachick 5y ago

I just search for "fake face masks" on google and they came right up https://www.google.com/search?q=fake+face+mask&tbm=isch https://www.google.com/search?q=fake+face+mask&tbm=isch

anonygler 5y ago
That’s image search. Try searching for this company: https://fakemaskworldwide.com/all-products/ https://fakemaskworldwide.com/all-products/ There’s others like it that are also censored. First result for “Fake face masks” on DuckDuckGo.
markdown 5y ago
They sell a product that potentially puts people in real danger. Choosing not to wear a mask is fine. An immunocompromised person can choose to cross the street when they see you. This product, allowing you to pretend to wear a mask in order to get close to people that don't want to be near maskless people is evil. And a "Rittenhouse Walks" t-shirt? I'm glad they've been de-platformed. Good riddance!
- Gareth321 5y ago
  This is a great example of censorship aligning with your biases. Today. A central theme to the discussion here is that, tomorrow, this censorship will likely not align with your biases. How will you feel about it then? We have millennia of practical examples of the fact that ceding the power to speak will always hurt us all in the end. It will eventually be used to silence you and whatever you believe is moral and just. This is why we must be willing to accept speech we don't like. Especially speech we don't like, because that's the speech which is removed first.
  - markdown 5y ago
    I hate to break it to you, but that was decided a long time ago, and we all agree to live by the biases of the majority. You don't want child porn on television at 7pm, do you?
- colordrops 5y ago
  Using "immunocompromised people" as the excuse for every abuse of rights and ethics is the same as the right wing using "think of the children" or "the terrorists will get us".
  - Broken_Hippo 5y ago
    A mask is not a human rights abuse. You know the difference between "the terrorists will get us" and "wear a mask to help protect others"? Only the second one is based in fact. Just because you refuse to believe such doesn't change this.
    - colordrops 5y ago
      Are you intentionally misunderstanding? We are talking about censorship, not the policy around masks.

Gareth321 5y ago

I heard about "Proud Boys" a couple of years ago and went looking for more information to find out about their group so I could have an informed position on the subject. Google removed their website. I understand Google feeling compelled to remove extreme and illegal content, but this is not that. Google removed them for political and/or moral reasons. DuckDuckGo let me find the website and form my own opinions. Imagine how many other websites Google is withholding for political and moral reasons? How much of our general knowledge is now carefully shaped and curated by Google, because that's what they allow us to see? I also moved to DuckDuckGo. A search engine which removes the things you're looking for "for your protection" is no search engine at all.

ComradePhil 5y ago
I don't see how you can blame the company when they are controlled by people who threaten them in various ways; threatening them with regulation with public disinformation about them using mass media being one of them. I have no doubt some of the top level people there are also involved in some Epsteinisque plot so that these people can have more control over them. They're more than big enough to warrant such a thing. In my opinion, they are merely complying to these pressures. Google is not being threatened to be regulated by Proud Boys nor is it likely that Proud Boys members have some dirt on their executives. So, they have no reason to remove Proud Boys from their search engine from their business perspective. Therefore the only reason can be that someone who has power over them tells them what to do.
- ekanes 5y ago
  Not holding them accountable simply because “but they have reasons” means no-one is ever accountable for anything.