source: https://apnews.com/article/iran-female-singer-youtube-arrest-f862c9ef4fc37cd574ec8c71fd4c74f9
#politics #humanrights #women #law #iran #justice #fail #freedom #equality #problem #autocracy #Islam #religion #news
Many of my peers from the .ORG and .COM worlds went on to set up institutions – both companies and nonprofits – that have since grown to be critical pieces of internet infrastructure: classified ad platforms, online encyclopedias, CMSes and personal publishing services, critical free/open source projects, standards bodies, server-to-server utilities, and more.
These all started out as benevolent autocracies: personal projects started by people who pitched in to help their virtual neighbors with the new, digital problems we were all facing. These good people, with good impulses, did good: their projects filled an important need, and grew, and grew, and became structurally important to the digital world. What started off as "Our pal's project that we all pitch in on," became, "Our pal's important mission that we help with, but that also has paid staff and important stakeholders, which they oversee as 'benevolent dictator for life.'"
Which was fine. The people who kicked off these projects had nurtured them all the way from a napkin doodle to infrastructure. They understood them better than anyone else, had sacrificed much for them, and it made sense for them to be installed as stewards.
But what they did next, how they used their powers as "BFDLs," made a huge difference. Because we are all imperfect, we are all capable of rationalizing our way into bad choices, we are all riven with insecurities that can push us to do things we later regret. When our actions are checked – by our peers' social approval or approbation; by the need to keep our volunteers happy; by the possibility of a mass exodus of our users or a fork of our code – these imperfections are balanced by consequences.
Dictators aren't necessarily any more prone to these lapses in judgment than anyone else. Benevolent dictators actually exist, people who only retain power because they genuinely want to use that power for good. Those people aren't more likely to fly off the handle or talk themselves into bad places than you or me – but to be a dictator (benevolent or otherwise) is to exist without the consequences that prevent you from giving in to those impulses. Worse: if you are the dictator – again, benevolent or otherwise – of a big, structurally important company or nonprofit that millions of people rely on, the consequences of these lapses are extremely consequential.
Meanwhile in #Muskville ....
No surprise here!
#MuskVirus #Twitter #X #disinformation #propaganda #autocracy #media #SocialMedia #censorship
She's pretty engaged in efforts to oppose a #fascist takeover.
https://www.justsecurity.org/92714/american-autocracy-threat-tracker
P.S. autocracy /ô-tŏk′rə-sē/
noun
Jill and Michael, for the win…
Jill #Stein Michael #Hudson #election #two-party #system #democracy #autocracy #Imperialism #governments #finance #Biden #Trump #USA #WeAreAllFucked
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tiOp-L-uY4
Thanks @Mulkurul
Just as it's been looking like the pendulum may be swinging back towards #truth, #democracy, and #justice....
The Court of #TrumpVirus and protectors of the Ginni/MAGA cult... intervened to do their favorite President a favor...
As Jack Smith is put on hold, if not notice. 💅 (Can't find a nail-biting emoji...). 👿 vs ⚖️ #justice and #democracy
"Supreme Power Corrupts Supremely"
#SCOTUS #GQP #TrumpVirus #Autocracy #Oligarchy #Jan6 #Justice #Accountability #Truth
watch: https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/aZD6Rj9_460svav1.mp4
Her story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandra_Skochilenko
On 16 November 2023 she was sentenced, in a St. #Petersburg court, to seven years of imprisonment for replacing supermarket price tags with #antiwar slogans in 2022. In her final statement to the #court, before the verdict was announced, she told the presiding judge: "Your honour, you have a unique opportunity to show an example to society with your verdict ... You can show how to resolve conflict with the help of words and compassion."
Anyone who thinks that Russia is an evil #autocracy should know that even in the West, people who tell horrible truths are locked away, like Julian #Assange.
#Russia #law #news #crime #thoughtcrime #politics #criticism #problem #protest #military #justice #freedom #war #truth #newspeak
Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2023/05/emin-ozmen-photographs-turkey/674135/
The photographer Emin Özmen has spent his career watching his country transform from an aspiring #democracy to a dystopian #autocracy.
#photo #documentation #Turkey #dystopia #crime #humanRights #politics #future
The whole thing is pretty ridiculous. Because #pornography is forbidden in China, the censors had problems to get appropriate material. The internet is full of porn but not in China because of the big firewall. For testing, they ended up using material with black bars as shown in the photo above. Only such material can be used legally in China. What they have found out scientifically now is probably that there are people who are attracted to this black and white zebra porn and react accordingly with brain #activity.
#science #brain #censorship #internet #greatFirewall #censor #politics #humanrights #sex #fail #news #technology #autocracy #online #privacy
Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/05/30/1052879/censoring-china-open-source-backfire/
Li went through the manual review for all his projects on Gitee, and so far 22 out of 24 have been restored. “Yet I assume that the #review process is not a one-time thing, so the question is if the friction of hosting projects will increase in the future,” he says. Still, with no better domestic alternative, Li expects users to stay: “People might not like what #Gitee is doing, but [Gitee] will still be required to get their daily job done.”
China is ruining everything for good with its autocracy. The knowledge transfer of the Linux kernel as free open-source software was the biggest aid ever given to development. Now that they need their own operating system for mobile devices in the trade war with the US, because they are no longer allowed to use Google's software, it is very stupid to scare their own open source developers. Source code should always be apolitical and the fact that so many projects are subsequently released shows that the censors have no idea what they are doing.
#censorship #censor #fail #os #software #opensource #freedom #politics #news #problem #autocracy #system #future #floss
source: https://noahpinion.substack.com/p/what-if-xi-jinping-just-isnt-that
And as a final word, seeing Xi’s stumbles really drives home how hard it is to be a truly successful autocrat. Their human rights records are certainly nothing to admire, but people like Deng Xiaoping and Park Chung-Hee — dictators who can take personalistic control of a country and leave it much stronger than they found it — are rare. Ultimately, that’s why autocracy is not a good way to organize a society — you have to roll the dice and win every time a truly strong leader comes to power. If Xi screws up the legacy his predecessors left him, it’ll be his fault, but it’ll also show that China’s political system wasn’t as ironclad as many have let themselves believe.
#china #autocracy #politics #economy #humanRights #problem #news #propaganda #system
Putin’s war shows autocracies and fossil fuels go hand in hand. Here’s how to tackle both
Longo reado, but worth one's while.
Dear lady did you perhaps notice that you are so #free to show this sign openly in public? If you want to get to know a real #autocracy, I suggest to protest against the #Ukraine #war in front of the #Kremlin.
#freedom #usa #democracy #liberty #firstWorldProblem #Corona #Pandemic #Protest #fail #health #security #omicron #mask
I'm not sure because #capitalism works pretty well in #China.
#protest #freedom #HongKong #future #politics #autocracy #problem #humanRights
#Wang went for dinner on Sunday at her blind date’s residence in the central Chinese city of #Zhengzhou, where a recent #outbreak of #Covid cases sent thousands into #quarantine in parts of the city. As she was finishing her meal, the area was put under lockdown.
She was unable to leave her date’s house as result, she told the Shanghai-based news outlet the Paper this week, saying she had gone to the city for a week-long trip to meet potential suitors from the southern province of Guangdong.
Wang quickly shared the bizarre experience with friends on social media. “I’m getting old now, my family introduced me to 10 matches … The fifth date wanted to show off his cooking skills and invited me over to his house for dinner,” said Wang in one of the videos.
So if you ever see protesters claiming the #security actions against Covid are a #tyranny, tell them what can happen in a real #autocracy.
#problem #news #fail #internet #viral #visit #corona #health
#freedom #usa #democracy #liberty #firstWorldProblem #Corona #Pandemic #Protest #fail #health #security #omicron #mask
● NEWS ● #MintPressNews #Finance ☞ Chris Hedges: America's Fate: #Oligarchy or #Autocracy https://www.mintpressnews.com/chris-hedges-america-fate-oligarchy-autocracy/278545/
