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China provides this law because they already track everything every citizen does. This is a virtue signal from a country gripped by a brutal and oppressive gove

China provides this law because they already track everything every citizen does. This is a virtue signal from a country gripped by a brutal and oppressive government.

nayuki 5y ago
Yes. You really can't take China's laws and proclamations at face value. Look at how many times they tried to "ban" Bitcoin or VPNs, yet they keep coming back. China does what China wants, and the written laws are a smokescreen.
user_7832 5y ago
I don't fully agree that that is the reasoning. Addictive algorithms or not, Facebook/TikTok et al can and does track you comfortably (as do most states including China). But if you observe some recent laws you'll see that the government sometimes does do things that are (what it thinks) is good for its citizens. For example there was a recent law limiting gaming hours for children. Agree or disagree with the implementation, a state can simultaneously be doing terrible things while also trying to do good things. Governments are not a monolithic unit.
- LordGronk 5y ago
  I think the issue he is pointing out is that China has plenty of laws that, as written, guarantee the exact opposite of what the state actually does. For instance, article 35 of the PRC's constitution guarantees "freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association, procession and demonstration.", yet that is obviously not the case in practice.
- clouddrover 5y ago
  > Agree or disagree with the implementation, a state can simultaneously be doing terrible things while also trying to do good things. Governments are not a monolithic unit. Ah! So when enough people disagree with the government then the solution is to change the government! You can change the government in China, right? Right?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
xtian 5y ago
What evidence do you have for that claim?
- kurthr 5y ago
  So this video is meant to be funny, but it really isn't funny for the government to brainwash school children... or have forced sterilization and prison camps for ethnic minorities. https://youtu.be/MipTHyFXYTE?t=175 https://youtu.be/MipTHyFXYTE?t=175 https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-47236902 https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-47236902
  - imiric 5y ago
    > One Weibo user from Shandong province said she had to earn 66 points per day - which according to a screenshot of the learning record she posted takes around two hours. Black Mirror IRL. I'm sure the app is so popular because people install it voluntarily... It's scary to think that an autocratic government has the power to influence the thoughts and actions of 1.4bn people. The US may spend an exorbitant amount on its defense budget, but the CCP can effectively weaponize the entire population on a whim, which somehow seems even scarier.
    - kwere 5y ago
      china spends more money in internal security than military defense[0]: 121 B$ vs 119 B$ [0] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-parliament-defence-idUSBRE92403620130305 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-parliament-defence-...
      - dirtyid 5y ago
        Which translates to less than 2% in public security and policing, i.e. less as % of GDP relative to US. All this number shows is PRC doesn't spend much on military and about EU levels on policing but gets misconstrued as PRC overspending on domestic security. That's true for every NATO country that underspends on military.
  - 5y ago

China provides this law because they already track everything every citizen does. This is a virtue signal from a country gripped by a brutal and oppressive government.

nayuki 5y ago

Yes. You really can't take China's laws and proclamations at face value. Look at how many times they tried to "ban" Bitcoin or VPNs, yet they keep coming back. China does what China wants, and the written laws are a smokescreen.

user_7832 5y ago

I don't fully agree that that is the reasoning. Addictive algorithms or not, Facebook/TikTok et al can and does track you comfortably (as do most states including China). But if you observe some recent laws you'll see that the government sometimes does do things that are (what it thinks) is good for its citizens. For example there was a recent law limiting gaming hours for children. Agree or disagree with the implementation, a state can simultaneously be doing terrible things while also trying to do good things. Governments are not a monolithic unit.

LordGronk 5y ago
I think the issue he is pointing out is that China has plenty of laws that, as written, guarantee the exact opposite of what the state actually does. For instance, article 35 of the PRC's constitution guarantees "freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association, procession and demonstration.", yet that is obviously not the case in practice.
clouddrover 5y ago
> Agree or disagree with the implementation, a state can simultaneously be doing terrible things while also trying to do good things. Governments are not a monolithic unit. Ah! So when enough people disagree with the government then the solution is to change the government! You can change the government in China, right? Right?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

xtian 5y ago

What evidence do you have for that claim?

kurthr 5y ago
So this video is meant to be funny, but it really isn't funny for the government to brainwash school children... or have forced sterilization and prison camps for ethnic minorities. https://youtu.be/MipTHyFXYTE?t=175 https://youtu.be/MipTHyFXYTE?t=175 https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-47236902 https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-47236902
- imiric 5y ago
  > One Weibo user from Shandong province said she had to earn 66 points per day - which according to a screenshot of the learning record she posted takes around two hours. Black Mirror IRL. I'm sure the app is so popular because people install it voluntarily... It's scary to think that an autocratic government has the power to influence the thoughts and actions of 1.4bn people. The US may spend an exorbitant amount on its defense budget, but the CCP can effectively weaponize the entire population on a whim, which somehow seems even scarier.
  - kwere 5y ago
    china spends more money in internal security than military defense[0]: 121 B$ vs 119 B$ [0] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-parliament-defence-idUSBRE92403620130305 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-parliament-defence-...
    - dirtyid 5y ago
      Which translates to less than 2% in public security and policing, i.e. less as % of GDP relative to US. All this number shows is PRC doesn't spend much on military and about EU levels on policing but gets misconstrued as PRC overspending on domestic security. That's true for every NATO country that underspends on military.
- 5y ago