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EU considers calculating X fines by including revenue from Musk’s other firms (arstechnica.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I don't think I quite agree about governments being predatory by nature. I think they can be, have been in the past, and safeguards and checks and balances need to be there to prevent it. But generally a democratically elected government is beneficial, albeit flawed. Often reactive rather than proactive, but not commonly bloodthirsty. I mean, they often can't even jail executives for criminal decisions or negligence.

In Elon's case, I do believe governments around the world are going to have to adapt to protect their citizens from popular, but provably false and dangerous propaganda, as well as protect their privacy in the EU's case.

Also, I agree, we both aren't lawmakers. So for now I will just have to cheer any attempt at adaptation, and hope that their solution is functional and passes scrutiny.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 2 weeks ago

I don't think I quite agree about governments being predatory by nature.

Well, if you look at the history you might change your mind. If you look at the Top 10 Most Politically Influential Countries, by US News, you will notice that out of the 10, at least half cannot be considered "beneficial".

I hope we can agree that Russia (1) and China (3) are predatory. But in case you don't believe so:
- Russia: I guess you can look at the recent invasion of Ukraine, or the arrest of Navalny for "extremism", or the arrest of Maria Ponomarenko for speaking against the war in Ukraine.
- China: I shouldn't need to link anything, but at least I'll point to Chen Pinlin arrested for the crime of making a documentary.
We have the UAE (9) and Saudi Arabia (7), who will literally kill you for the crime of being a journalist [SA], being gay [SA], and arrest you for speaking against them [UAE]
Israel (5): I guess it depends on where you stand with the current Israel-Hamas situation. But I wouldn't say Israel has an utopian government.
Iran (10): From numerous results from a quick Google search, I can point to Pakhshan Azizi being sentenced to death for her humanitarian work.

That's 6/10 of the most influential governments being provably predatory against their own citizens.

I mean, they often can’t even jail executives for criminal decisions or negligence.

That's one of the unfortunate advantages of creating companies, but I believe such protections are needed for the average citizen who wants to start their own business. Maybe you disagree.

In Elon’s case, I do believe governments around the world are going to have to adapt to protect their citizens from popular, but provably false and dangerous propaganda, as well as protect their privacy in the EU’s case.

If you must "protect" your citizens at all cost from misinformation being spread on X, then you can do what Brazil did, and just force all ISPs to block traffic to it, then fine thousands of dollars to those who get caught using a VPN to access it. This is also extremely predatory (against X and Brazil citizens), but nobody cared for some reason.

Also, I agree, we both aren’t lawmakers. So for now I will just have to cheer any attempt at adaptation, and hope that their solution is functional and passes scrutiny.

Hopefully it can be solved in a way that doesn't harm small businesses.