• volodya_ilich@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    Why the need to compare to China though? People can understand that mass surveillance is bad without resorting to “China bad”. Go ask Snowdon if China is the mother of all surveillance.

    • gallopingsnail@lemmy.sdf.org
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      5 months ago

      "Bruh why would you compare them to the largest surveillance state in the world bro. Saying how the EU would be more like the the most widely-known example of government surveillance and blocking of Internet traffic is just saying China bad, bro.

      inb4 “bUt mUriCa bAd ToO”

    • lenz
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      5 months ago

      Idk why communists defend China’s every move. Communism can be defended without excusing China’s authoritarian practices. I have Chinese friends living in China who tell me all kinds of horrific stories that they’ve had to deal with because of China’s mass surveillance (and more). That isn’t western propaganda, that’s people’s lived experiences. There is literally a “Great Firewall of China” lmao. China IS bad when it comes to their mass surveillance and suppression of speech. USA IS bad when it comes to their letting giant corporations have such free rein that it makes us all into serfs. Why compare to China? Because China is a great comparison.

      • volodya_ilich@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        How am I defending china? I just don’t see the need to go “oh look like X country” whenever the EU or the US do something bad. We’re plenty bad ourselves

        • figaro@lemdro.id
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          5 months ago

          Let’s say both then. Both the US and China are surveillance states, and that makes them both bad.

          Btw just so you are aware, there is some underlying animosity toward people who defend China here. Usually people who defend China are just trying to deflect and try to say things like “BUT America does bad things!” While trying to make it seem like that somehow absolves China of genocide and mass surveillance.

          The hard part for those people to grasp is that Americans are usually happy to say yes, America sucks. Any country that engages in those actions sucks. Diehard tankies on the other hand are incapable of seeing flaws in China/Russia/whatever country they feel the need to defend.

          • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Let’s say both then. Both the US and China are surveillance states, and that makes them both bad.

            /signed

            But also: all five-eyes states, and then a couple more. With western European countries trying hard to compete in the “who can fuck their citizens the mostest the bestest”

        • Ibuthyr@discuss.tchncs.de
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          5 months ago

          It’s a language many people understand. I mean, you have to be extremely ignorant if you think China has good privacy laws implemented. Everyone knows what a nightmare that country is in that regard, ergo no one wants to be like them.

        • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          Because it’s a comparison most people understand and it put things in perspective. Seems obvious enough to me.

      • barsquid@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        I put “communists” in scare quotes when they’re defending every action from a state capitalist nation that produces hundreds of billionaires.

      • LoreleiSankTheShip
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        5 months ago

        As someone who doesn’t know much about China aside from the high competitiveness of their academic environment, I’m curious as to what sort of issues your friends face due to surveillance? Does it affect their day to day lives? Or does it just foster an atmosphere of “be careful what you say”?

    • Draedron@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      5 months ago

      China is bad. It is a brutal dictatorship in the middle of committing 2 genocides. Uyghurs and Falun Gong.