5 ms·

2024: When asking companies to comply with the law is being an "activist".

by suprjami 2y ago

macintux 2y ago
Taking a company to court is definitely in the realm of activism.
- elric 2y ago
  Demanding that your basic rights be respected by billion-dollar scale ad-peddlers doesn't sound like activism to me.
  - wizzwizz4 2y ago
    It's doing something, therefore it's activism.
    - amelius 2y ago
      Did you look up the definition?
      - wizzwizz4 2y ago
        Never in my life before now, but Wiktionary agrees with me. https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=activism&oldid=82027054 https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=activism&oldid=8... > The practice of using action to achieve a result, such as political demonstration or a strike in support of or in opposition to an issue. If you're doing something about it, that can be called activism.
        amelius 2y ago
        The "such as" part of that definition is very important. Without it, you'd have only "The practice of using action to achieve a result", which applies to anything, e.g. me pressing "submit" (an action) to achieve the result that my comment is posted. I don't think the "such as" clause covers lawsuits.
        wizzwizz4 2y ago
        That's not how dictionaries work. The definition points at a meaning: it doesn't construct it, mathematics-style. Activism is where you take action to change something specific and significant, relative to the counterfactual where you did not take such action. (It also includes failed attempts at the same.) If – say – there were strong social taboos against using the letter "e", and by using them in your comment you aimed to erode them, then yes, pressing "submit" would be activism. The same if you were coming out publicly, with the aim to make it easier for others to do so. Wearing clothes can be activism. There's no reason that lawsuits shouldn't qualify, if their goal is to create a better world. "Create a better world" isn't a necessary condition for being activism. > A long time ago, I was in Burma. My friends and I were working for the local government. They were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones, but their caravans were being raided in a forest north of Rangoon by a bandit. So we went looking for the stones, but in six months, we never met anyone who traded with him. One day, I saw a child playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine. The bandit had been throwing them away. > So why steal them? Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn. — The Dark Knight, by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > Demanding that your basic rights be respected How do you think we got basic rights? (Natural rights are a philosophical object.)
  - lupusreal 2y ago
    Demanding basic rights is the most traditional and respected form of activism there is!
  - foobarchu 2y ago
    Activism doesn't have to be a pejorative.
infamouscow 2y ago
This says more about the (low) quality of the AP and it's (mediocre) editorial staff than about TFA and EU citizens exercising their rights in a court of law under the GDPR.
makeitdouble 2y ago
Perhaps the lesson is we should all be activists. We set activism as a civic duty, and teach it in primary school.
crazygringo 2y ago
What does 2024 have to do with it? That's always been a major component of activism, because legal compliance is never automatic or something you should take for granted. Nothing has changed. Other major components include changing the law, and changing people's behaviors where law is irrelevant.
teddyh 2y ago
“You want justice? You’re a troublemaker.” — <http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2700/fv02673.htm http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2700/fv02673.htm>
jmd42 2y ago
Schrems has launched several strategic court cases like this to push back on privacy issues, and even runs a non-profit focused on doing so. I think "activist" is just giving him well-deserved credit for the amount of legwork he puts in to see these cases through. He is absolutely doing this out of principle / for a cause, and not because of his own individual grievance - he just needs to be able to point to something affecting him personally to give him the legal footing to bring the case to court.

2024: When asking companies to comply with the law is being an "activist".

macintux 2y ago

Taking a company to court is definitely in the realm of activism.

elric 2y ago
Demanding that your basic rights be respected by billion-dollar scale ad-peddlers doesn't sound like activism to me.
- wizzwizz4 2y ago
  It's doing something, therefore it's activism.
  - amelius 2y ago
    Did you look up the definition?
    - wizzwizz4 2y ago
      Never in my life before now, but Wiktionary agrees with me. https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=activism&oldid=82027054 https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=activism&oldid=8... > The practice of using action to achieve a result, such as political demonstration or a strike in support of or in opposition to an issue. If you're doing something about it, that can be called activism.
      - amelius 2y ago
        The "such as" part of that definition is very important. Without it, you'd have only "The practice of using action to achieve a result", which applies to anything, e.g. me pressing "submit" (an action) to achieve the result that my comment is posted. I don't think the "such as" clause covers lawsuits.
        wizzwizz4 2y ago
        That's not how dictionaries work. The definition points at a meaning: it doesn't construct it, mathematics-style. Activism is where you take action to change something specific and significant, relative to the counterfactual where you did not take such action. (It also includes failed attempts at the same.) If – say – there were strong social taboos against using the letter "e", and by using them in your comment you aimed to erode them, then yes, pressing "submit" would be activism. The same if you were coming out publicly, with the aim to make it easier for others to do so. Wearing clothes can be activism. There's no reason that lawsuits shouldn't qualify, if their goal is to create a better world. "Create a better world" isn't a necessary condition for being activism. > A long time ago, I was in Burma. My friends and I were working for the local government. They were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones, but their caravans were being raided in a forest north of Rangoon by a bandit. So we went looking for the stones, but in six months, we never met anyone who traded with him. One day, I saw a child playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine. The bandit had been throwing them away. > So why steal them? Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn. — The Dark Knight, by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > Demanding that your basic rights be respected How do you think we got basic rights? (Natural rights are a philosophical object.)
- lupusreal 2y ago
  Demanding basic rights is the most traditional and respected form of activism there is!
- foobarchu 2y ago
  Activism doesn't have to be a pejorative.

infamouscow 2y ago

This says more about the (low) quality of the AP and it's (mediocre) editorial staff than about TFA and EU citizens exercising their rights in a court of law under the GDPR.

makeitdouble 2y ago

Perhaps the lesson is we should all be activists. We set activism as a civic duty, and teach it in primary school.

crazygringo 2y ago

What does 2024 have to do with it? That's always been a major component of activism, because legal compliance is never automatic or something you should take for granted. Nothing has changed. Other major components include changing the law, and changing people's behaviors where law is irrelevant.

teddyh 2y ago

“You want justice? You’re a troublemaker.” — <http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2700/fv02673.htm http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2700/fv02673.htm>

jmd42 2y ago

Schrems has launched several strategic court cases like this to push back on privacy issues, and even runs a non-profit focused on doing so. I think "activist" is just giving him well-deserved credit for the amount of legwork he puts in to see these cases through. He is absolutely doing this out of principle / for a cause, and not because of his own individual grievance - he just needs to be able to point to something affecting him personally to give him the legal footing to bring the case to court.