Large if accurate

Seems like you already do.

I don’t want any followers or believers. Calling it as I see it. That is all.

Not to worry, you’re simply confusing freedom of speech with obliging private actors to consume content they don’t want to consume or disagree with. The first is a fundemental principle of democratic legal systems and recognized as a perempotry norm under international law. The second is authoritarianism.

There’s a growing number of legally illiterate people who think freedom of speech is absolute and even affords one the right to oblige others consume their speech through the government. That is fundamentally wrong and a complete misunderstanding of how these key principles of freedom work and have always worked in modern democratic systems.

Newsflash - freedom of speech is not absolute. Never has been. There are very specific, explicitly codified limitations. Why? Because words are the most powerful weapons and can be used to target and threaten the freedoms of other people, including their freedom to life. Which is why rights and obligations are always balanced against each other, following the principle of proportionality.

If you feel so strongly about not being able force others to consume content they don’t want to consume, then I have bad news for you - you are opposing democracy. But it seems like you, and many other like you, are just confused, rather than actively promoting anti-democratic standpoints. The truly sad part? The impact is the same regardless of intent.

Edit: Want to know more? Details at 6.

Holding those in power accountable is a continuous process. It doesn’t just happen on a specific day or another. Politically active and concious people protest and raise awareness in an ongoing manner regardless of who is in power. The world didn’t end on 5 Nov 2024 or 20 Jan 2025 - fighting for democracy will never stop.

You would know this if you actually put your money where your mouth is, as it were.

What field was it? I like to think every field contributes to your knowledge in a meaningful way even if you don’t end up working in it

Yo, did they change the photo? I’m only seeing it in the thembnail

I’m just making fun of the biased dynamics and what often seems like a black-and-white perspective. By no means do I think that one is “good” and the other is “bad”, but I do think there is a lot of misrepresentation going around because of the latest developments around TikTok. We should also keep in kind that the executive decision was put in place over a year ago but ofcourse nobody discussed it back then because policy only becomes relevant once it factors into personal interpretations and ideology.

Oh you sweet summer child!

China good, US bad! It is known!

That’s not how I remember it. The average persin in Eastern Europe couldn’t afford to buy a car and cars were in short supply, resulting in significant waiting periods (we’re talking years). The average citizens in the USSR and the Warsaw Pact had much less purchaisng power compared to their counterparts in the West. Soviet-made cars were much more expensice relative to Western-made ones, and of considerably lower quality, generally speaking.

I guess I must be “retarded” as well - I don’t get what’s so funny about someone being impressed or otherwise stricken with the landscape of a place they’ve never been to.

Edit: typos

There are plenty of ways for governments to engage in strategic communications without having to rely on social media, especially when said platforms are disentangling the fabric of society before our very eyes. Moreover, government communication (and 99% of other communication processes) does not require the constant and immediate production and consumption of information that social media are purposefully designed for. Pretending like people are addicted to social media because we really want to stay in touch with policy is just silly.

And no, one thing is not equivalent to another thing just because they belong in the same category of things. Editorial and privacy policies, ownership structures, the extent to which a company or its owners are politically exposed - these are all things that can differ drastically from one actor to another.

How about just quiting without replacing it with something else? Everyone desperately needs to stop using social media like a crack addict needs to stop doing crack. Shitter, FB, IG, TokTik, etc - it’s all utter, utter shit.

Seems like you’re prescribing a lot of opinions to the people you’re replying to. But if you go back and read what they wrote carefully you should see that your deductions and assumptions about what they think don’t really stand the test of reason and semantics. Especially given how much of a tech-focused forum this is. Every third post is about Linux - so realistically what are the chances that you are enaging with primitivists on here?

You’re tilting at windmills. It’s not about rejecting technological advancement. It’s about ensuring its fairness and accessability.

Yes, technology can be (and is) used for social good. It can also be (and is) used to opress and supress. What’s more both dynamics are happening at the same time. The world isn’t black-and-white. The human condition is complex.

Speak for yourself. A majority of Eastern Europeans see the US as a key strategic ally, and for good reason.

They’ll be sending their first satellite into orbit soon. You’d think they’d need basic utilities to do that but no - its all held together by duct tape and wishful thinking.

No doubt, there is a clear and unmistakable trend toward demilitirazation and reducing nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula these past few years.

The real issue is Serbia testing ICBMs and threatening Romania with nuclear warfare. Apparently the secret biological experiments the US has been conducting on Vucic are making him go crazy. Textbook example of a strategy of tension.

Reality truly is stranger than fiction.

Of course. Here’s hoping the ongoing war in the Balkans ends soon and peoples in the region can have peaceful relations. You know, like North and South Korea. Or Ukraine and Russia. Or Israel and Palestine.

And if any of this doesn’t make sense, I suggest you look up the history of the Yugoslavian automotive industry before and after the fall of the SFRY. Then it’ll all fall into place. Unless you’re in the Balkans, in which case you wouldn’t be reading this because you don’t have access to the internet. Unironically.