I don't expect in a US structure my Obama texts would be hidden or deleted.
I think they'd be put on blast by multiple competing systems that are semi-automated to seek out and publicize "undesirable" behavior, and I'd end up receiving death threats from anonymous sources, sanctions from my employer, etc.
The outcomes are different, and I think the jury's out on which one is better. In fact, it's probably a personal preference.
I disagree.
I don't see any future where your gmails or SMSs are going to be sold to arbitrary 3rd parties so your 'future employers' can read them.
"the employment of academics in the US being in jeopardy if they choose to criticize Israel."
This has nothing to do with state powers monitoring arbitrary communications.
This has to do with specific enterprises practices of hiring discrimination - which is a complex, but totally separate problem.
Doesn't Google read gmails? Doesn't Google have agreements with 3rd parties related to using information from those gmails? Is it hard to imagine that, as with Facebook, Google making that information directly available?
What FB et. al. do with your content is right in the fine print.
No one sufficiently educated wants to think the west is somehow superior, but at least when it comes to choosing where you’d prefer to be born, western countries offer huge advantages.
Either by lies or by harassment or by prison or by murder or by wars against entire countries and their population.
Notable examples:
- Julian Assange.
- Russia, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Venezuela, ...
America Has Been at War 93% of the Time – 222 out of 239 Years – Since 1776 https://www.globalresearch.ca/america-has-been-at-war-93-of-...
When was the last war promoted by Russia or China where hundreds of thousands of people died ?
Madeleine Albright says 500,000 dead Iraqi Children was "worth it" wins Medal of Freedom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omnskeu-puE
And do not forget corruption of information by corporations and secrets services like the FBI and CIA.
Whistleblower Exposes Facebook Censorship Techniques - Mindblowing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UzFTAeEzJ8
SHOCKER: FBI Admits Sabotaging Progressive Politicians As Policy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LYJSb-h9m8
Macron vows to tighten media control because 'fake news threatens democracy' https://www.rt.com/news/414945-macron-france-fake-news-law/
Food libel laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_libel_laws
FYI 'Julian Assange' is wanted for specific crimes, this is normal in any nation - hopefully, if he is arrested, he'll have a chance to defend himself against specific claims. That would be a very, very public trial with a lot of scrutiny.
... and 'Russia, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Venezuela' are not 'notable examples' of anything in this context.
It will happen in front of the world with full transparency.
The US could fudge 'findings' from the CIA on Iraq, but they can't make up evidence in court.
Julian Assange would be free if the USA respected journalism. But the USA does not.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/nov/16/julian-assange...
For the USA, this is about about national pride and personal revenge. Trump said that a death sentence is appropriate.
The trial and accusation might be kept secret. Like in Guantanamo and similar places around the world where people are held captive without trial and where torture is normal.
Do you really think the world is worried about Julian Assange because a fair trial is expected ?
Do you really think that he has spent his life in the Ecuadorian embassy since 2012 because a fair trial is expected ?
Do you really think that Ecuador has protected Julian Assange in the embassy since 2012 because a fair trial is expected ?
I guess you are one of the US citizens who promote hate and war against Russia and China and thus want to censor free speech and messages to defend and promote your worldview.
Your words from the first comment I replied to: Nobody in the US is going to censor your email so that if you say something about Trump it gets magically deleted.
Your last comment proves that you are no better and you would love to have my comments deleted or having me banned from HN.
I guess it is also you who downvotes my comments.
You know you have nothing to say against the proofs that I linked.
Pointing at Russia, of all places, as some kind of counter-example is laughable at best.
Typically used by people who have nothing else to say.
I did not write anything to excuse China.
I wrote something that accuses the USA and our western democracies of being far worse than China for the world. Something very relevant regarding the fear mongering against Russia and China promoted by the message in the linked article that also promotes the worldview that the USA and the western democracies are beacons of goodness that must act against Russia and China.
Besides, Russia was invited by the official and elected Syrian president. The USA invaded Syria and promoted terrorism. You should read about what Syrian people think about Russia and the USA in their country.
Example: 'Thank you, Russia, Thank you, Putin' - BBC News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNTgL82D4Xo
I think that's a denial of reality, though. Soviet Russia killed roughly 10 million of its own people [1]. Mao's Great Leap forward killed roughly 45 million people. [2] This isn't some "they mucked around in someone else's backyard--cultural interference!!!" badness. Together, Russia and China killed the same number of people that World War II did (~ 55 million), and they did this to their own subjects. What the U.S. and other Western democracies did was to prevent these horrors from visiting the rest of the world.
What Russia and China had in common, and still do, is that they were, and still are, totalitarian dictatorships. China happens to be the largest, most technologically advanced one we've ever seen. But it still is one. Totalitarian dictatorships are worse for the world. History has taught this much, at least.
You won't hear me claiming that USA and Western democracies are "beacons of goodness", but it's silly to say "Nay! Nay! They're worse!"
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor
[2] https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/...
Although unrelated but in reply to your message: China is a totalitarian dictatorship but I wonder if more Chinese people support it than US people support Trump or Clinton or any other of the war criminal mass murder US presidents that US democracy had elected in the last century.
I hope that the Green Party or another reasonable party will be elected in the USA in 2020.
Besides: AFAIK it is possible for many to use VPN in China to access the internet privately without censorship and without punishment.
https://www.travelchinacheaper.com/is-it-legal-to-use-a-vpn-...
FaceBook does this sort of thing, except instead of deleting the post, they omit it from feeds, and immediately bury it in the historical archive part of the UI.
Example: A friend of mine’s brother died, and his only updates were about a scone or something. After hearing about the death through other channels, I had to click around for about five minutes (I don’t use Facebook much...) to find the touching post he wrote, and link to the / funeral arrangements.
Nobody in the US is going to censor your email so that if you say something about Trump it gets magically deleted.
Court cases and mugshots are public information and a matter of transparency. When you murder someone, well, that's part of the deal. That's very different from the government measuring other, minute aspects of your life and making it public to everyone.
If your social media posts are marked private - which is your choice - then for the most part they're not going to be available to arbitrary 3rd parties, moreover, there are definitely social media solutions you can use that don't share anything.
There is an ongoing war over your information mostly for advertising by the way (not hiring) and hopefully some legislation will take care of that, and some dialogue over NSA/Snowden type things. Thankfully, there are actually laws, warrants, judges in the mix.
Surely we have to judge China's actions from a completely different angle, as they have their own history, social system etc. - but the equivalency arguments just don't work.
I think if you tried to text someone a message about Obama, and it was magically deleted by the US government, it would send shivers down your spine, and however political or not you were, you'd be signed up for the first protest/action - as would most of us.
We all have some concerns about our system but it's manageable - what's happening in China is right out of a novel.
Also note that 'it's just begun'. This is possibly only the first tranche.
The de-facto objective may be to leverage tech to it's max - the result is effective total control over everyone's lives.