from Hacker News

Why Techdirt Is Now a Democracy Blog (Whether We Like It or Not)

by erentz on 3/5/25, 4:44 AM with 12 comments

• by muddi900 on 3/5/25, 5:52 AM

  This is a great highlight from this piece: "Take two recent stories that perfectly illustrate the difference in coverage. First, there’s the TikTok ban. Political reporters focused on which party would benefit from the ban, and who would get credit for being “tough on China” — the usual horse-race nonsense. Tech and law reporters, meanwhile, were highlighting how the legislation would actually weaken security protections and create dangerous precedents for government intervention in private companies. (Not to mention how it would undermine decades of US work promoting an open internet.)"

  Most of the political press is chasing clicks, without realizing they are just cheerleaders for their own demise. The open internet is going away. And nobody is doing anything about it.

• by throwaway5752 on 3/8/25, 11:14 PM

  Hacker News and Y Combinator should really learn from this.

• by malfist on 3/5/25, 2:50 PM

  Thought there were some really good statements in the article

  > When you’ve spent years watching how some tech bros break the rules in pursuit of personal and economic power at the expense of safety and user protections, all while wrapping themselves in the flag of “innovation,”

  We've all see tech startups get big by breaking the law and saying they were "innovating" and that it's "too expensive" to comply with the law like every other country.

  > When someone talks about “free speech” while actively working to control speech, that’s not a contradiction or a mistake — it’s the point. It’s about consolidating power while wrapping it in the language of freedom as a shield to fool the gullible and the lazy

  It's straight up doublespeak. And this administration +Musk is all about doublespeak. Just look at the recent court arguments. Depending on the case Mr. Musk is either "not employeed by the government" or is a "special government employee" whichever is more convenient to them at the time.

  > If you do not recognize that mass destruction of fundamental concepts of democracy and the US Constitution happening right now, you are either willfully ignorant or just plain stupid. I can’t put it any clearer than that.

  I think this is well said. Even if you agree with the positions Trump and Elon are taking and the things they are doing, the ends do not justify the means. Eliminating the co-equal branches of government so your side can rule by fiat is not a democracy, full stop.