Edward Snowden says autobiography has been censored in China
www.theguardian.com
Sections on democracy and privacy appear to be missing in Chinese edition of Permanent Record

Can't go allowing Western propaganda about "personal liberty" to interfere with our grand plans. But we're definitely not authoritarian. You will grow to love the options we give you.

  • GlacialTurtle [none/use name]
    16·
    4 years ago

    wow "securing the gains it made against the west" absolutely requires removing sections from a book that's entirely focused on criticism of mass surveillance. The more you defend mass surveillance, the more you secure the gains.

      • GlacialTurtle [none/use name]
        11·
        4 years ago

        China is absolutely correct to filter and monitor ideologicaly driven western analysis and thesis that is written by techno libertarians .

        Good to know that you've checked what the references were that are removed to know this. Oh wait, 100% you're saying based entirely on presumption, not on "analysis".

        And mass surveillence is necessary at these scales and in our current geopolitical reality.

        lmao

        Cuba has mass surveillence, venezuela has mass surveillence , the USSR had, even Catalonia had secret police etc. Every single socialist project that wanted to survive for more than city scale and for more than a year does mass surveillence and is in a constant media and informationwarfare with the west and the global hegemony. Let alone the largest in history that has a billion+ people and is in the start of a new cold war with america

        lmfao "mass surveillance is good and therefore uniformly justified in every context". Amazing work of analysis here. This also means it's justifiable to delete any references to mass surveillance even existing within China because?

        • Huldra [they/them, it/its]
          3·
          4 years ago

          The stuff that was removed was shit talking about "Authoritarianism" and "Totalitarianism" which are both essentially purely propaganda based terms without any form of class analysis. Its literally "When governments do bad stuff except not if its technically private companies doing that stuff".

          • constantly_dabbing [none/use name]
            10·
            4 years ago

            essentially purely propaganda based terms without any form of class analysis

            Authoritarianism is against mass movements and supports executive decisions.

            Minimal political mobilization and suppression of anti-regime activities. Ill-defined executive powers, often vague and shifting, which extends the power of the executive.

            and everyone knows that totalitarianism is anti-Marxist because it reduces the workers level of control over society. It erases the public's ability to discuss such a degree that there's a chilling effect on mere criticism. But of course ML is a fash ideology so that's what they want lol

            • Huldra [they/them, it/its]
              ·
              4 years ago

              Weird how 90%+ of China supports the Authoritarian and Totalitarian big bad CPC by western estimates, surely if the CPC is all of that stuff then people wouldnt like them.

          • GlacialTurtle [none/use name]
            11·
            4 years ago

            Did you? Like did you read the book and these parts or you just read a fucking Guardian article and got mad at le winnie the pooh cencorship? Why do you act as if you did some deep dive on the issue. You linked a bloody Guardian article and a reddit china bad picture.

            The passages were posted by Snowden. People translated them. Some refer to him being assigned to investigating possible attempts at hacking/intrusion by the Chinese government for example. This is in the book referencing western countries doing the same, so there is no "China is therefore uniquely bad".

            Also, I didn't link to the article, and you're the one claiming there's a deeper analysis that justifies removal of sections of the book.

            More like “every single leftist project worth a damn resorted to mass intelligence suveillence and censorship to even survive and stabilize when existing inside a western liberal capitalistic hegemony and under its attack, let alone a billion people one during the start of a second cold war”. But hey it seems reading comprehension isnt your thing

            Mass surveillance is not necessary, actually. Various programs were in fact found to make it more difficult for the various intelligence agencies to do their job, to the point that some programs were literally just shut down quietly because they were ineffective and didn't yield much of worth. But coming to such a conclusion requires actual research and understanding, rather than "western imperialism blah blah material conditions blah blah hegemony" as go to excuses when you don't know much about the topic and you're literally defending mass surveillance of innocent civilians.

              • GlacialTurtle [none/use name]
                7·
                4 years ago

                Why the fuck should i care about what snowden has to say in his analysis. He is a libertarian and his concepts are informed from that basis, especially with them coming from him being “assinged” to investigate Chinese government activity

                I don't know dude, someone who had first hand experience working as a contractor for the NSA, who exposed the mass surveillance they were doing, who was then persecuted by the US government to the point the US deliberately stranded him in Russia sounds pretty interesting to me. Sounds like someone who'd be worth listening to on how governments spy on innocent citizens.

                Yes but thats mostly something almost exclussively had to do with the chornic and huge issue of with overbloated Soviet bureocracy on these (and every ) sector…not about the nature ,necessity and usefullness of mass suveillence programs or cencorship practices at any or all capacities that existed. Just that it was structured at an excess and self defeating way which is pretty normal once you know about late soviet bureocracy.That point has nothing to do with the “X and Y werentr necessary actually”.

                lolwut?

                Literally we know mass surveillance isn't effective. I'm not talking anything to do with soviet era surveillance.

                https://www.propublica.org/article/whats-the-evidence-mass-surveillance-works-not-much

    • Huldra [they/them, it/its]
      2·
      4 years ago

      No need for any actual analysis on why surveillance exists or might be necessary for a socialist state, all you need is to internalize western propaganda and you're good to go.

      • GlacialTurtle [none/use name]
        13·
        4 years ago

        Feel free to provide the analysis that suggests it necessary to edit those portions of Snowdens book then. "Western propaganda" is when you publish documents outlining western governments mass surveillance programs, and then publish a book about it that references China surveillance and hacking programs too.

      • GlacialTurtle [none/use name]
        13·
        4 years ago

        Good to see dipshits who espouse "critical support" not actually engage in the critical part and defend censorship of criticism of mass surveillance that would apparently cause the downfall of China if left intact.

          • GlacialTurtle [none/use name]
            10·
            4 years ago

            No one said you were beholden, but it's good to illustrate there's no actual defence you can come up with beyond vaguely implying the downfall of china will happen if Snowden's book was published unedited, so you defer to "Log off" when cornered.

              • GlacialTurtle [none/use name]
                11·
                4 years ago

                lmao intellectual wanking to ask a bit more from dipshits here than "China's downfall will happen if even minor references to hacking and surveillance programs in China exists, even though Snowden also quite happily references, critiques, and literally exposed western mass surveillance programs".

                • Huldra [they/them, it/its]
                  1·
                  4 years ago

                  No one is implying this one thing would topple China, but that allowing a stream of shit like this gives western imperialism an opening to start trying to rile up color revolutions and secessionist shit.

                  • GlacialTurtle [none/use name]
                    9·
                    4 years ago

                    Pretty sure Chinese people are already aware of the great firewall and various media being edited for release in China. Pretty sure it's also not impossible to get an undedited version of the book via other means. So how does minor references in a book that discusses mass surveillance in a multitude of countries constitute enough of a danger to warrant removal?

                    • Huldra [they/them, it/its]
                      2·
                      4 years ago

                      Limiting the amount of people that get exposed to western bullshit about authoritarianism and totalitarianism is a good thing.

                    • ARVSPEX [none/use name]
                      2·
                      4 years ago

                      Pretty sure Chinese people are already aware of the great firewall and various media being edited for release in China. Pretty sure it’s also not impossible to get an undedited version of the book via other means.

                      Exactly.

                      So how does minor references in a book that discusses mass surveillance in a multitude of countries constitute enough of a danger to warrant removal?

                      It warrants removal for the sake of flexing on western lefties. 😎