from Hacker News

US workers may have to change social media use as firms adapt to China's rules

by subversionist on 10/8/19, 3:06 PM with 113 comments

by hprotagonist on 10/8/19, 4:22 PM
In two words: bite me.
there aren't too many things that i'm a raving aboslutist about, but the freedom of political speech is one of them.
If my employer attempts to step on my neck for saying things about china that china doesn't like, on my time, and my personal accounts, their next contact from me will be from an ACLU lawyer.
by ourlordcaffeine on 10/8/19, 4:37 PM
Name and shame companies who bow to Chinese censors
https://github.com/caffeine-overload/bandinchina
(Repo named after south park episode)
by mfer on 10/8/19, 5:03 PM
Before we were voicing everything on the Internet there was both a separation between professional lives and private lives and far more localized communities that had lower interaction with each other.
With the way many are using the Internet is blurs or removes the lines between private and public along with removing regional group barriers.
So, I used to be able to run my mouth locally on some topic and have no work or global repercussions. Now, you do that on the Internet, it could be seen be people thousands of miles away, and it could impact ones career.
It's not just technology but how we choose to use it and guide others to do so as well.
by eaandkw on 10/8/19, 4:43 PM
The only thing that is going to stop this is when these companies start losing money. They would sell their first born if they thought it would increase their stock prices.
I would boycott these companies but to be honest I don't have any accounts with them in the first place and I am actively closing accounts and reducing my presents on the internet.
by kick on 10/8/19, 4:25 PM
How long is it going to be before someone sets up a betting service on which companies will bend the knee fastest?
by whateveracct on 10/8/19, 5:01 PM
Protections from government influence on free speech is a fundamental American cultural value. Just because it's a foreign government doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to abide by that value.
by gnode on 10/8/19, 5:53 PM
While companies should be held to account for caving to economic pressure, and boycotting them is justified, I think it's important to recognise that this pressure exists, and for all companies, not only those yet to have an infamous PR incident.
It is the responsibility of government to counteract such pressure and protect business from becoming proxy to foreign interference in domestic political discourse, not to mention protecting such discourse in itself.
by imgabe on 10/8/19, 4:36 PM
I remember when news used to tell you about things that did happen instead of things that might happen.
Until a company actually does this, this is just clickbait speculation.
by Grimm1 on 10/8/19, 5:03 PM
They can bite me as well. This a foreign nation exerting its will over our politics via economic control. The govt should make strides to curb this imo.
by Porthos9K on 10/9/19, 5:06 AM
Neither Beijing nor my employer get a say in what I post online, whether it concerns the resemblance between Xi Jinping and Winnie the Pooh or the true paternity of Jesus H. Christ (my money is on Zeus).
by thesquib on 10/8/19, 6:46 PM
If Apple has "removed" the Taiwanese flag now, soon maybe they'll automatically translate what people say into NewSpeak which is acceptable for the China market. Just saying...
by davidhyde on 10/8/19, 4:34 PM
The title of this article is designed to trigger the target audience before they even open the link.
by cryptonector on 10/8/19, 5:32 PM
At some point there will have to be a confrontation with China over its tyranny.
by iamasoftwaredev on 10/9/19, 5:42 PM
Or maybe we should start standing up to an authoritarian regime.
oh wait, capitalism. Nevermind. Let's pander to them instead.
by inthenewsaklj on 10/8/19, 4:42 PM
> Cathay Pacific CEO Rupert Hogg stepped down after one of the airline’s pilots was found to have taken part in the protests.
Wow, that is crazy.