Chinese Web Firms 'Bullying' Customers With Data, Algorithms (reuters.com) 27
Chinese internet companies have been violating customers' rights by misusing personal data and "bullying" people into purchases and promotions, a government-backed consumer association said on Thursday. From a report: The statement from the China Consumers Association (CCA) did not name any companies, but comes as Beijing has ramped up scrutiny of technology giants, reversing a once laissez-faire approach towards its vast internet space. "Consumers are being squeezed by data algorithms and becoming the targets of technical bullying," the association said. Companies must stop using systems to scan through consumers' personal data and offer them different prices for goods based on that information, the association said. Algorithms that checked people's internet use and other data, then sent them targeted ads and promotions, deprived customers of choice, it added. Some of the products and services promoted by these automated systems "violated the law and public order and good customs" it said, without going into further detail. Consumers' "values and moral concepts may even be distorted by algorithms and become 'playthings' in the hands of platform operators," the CCA's statement said.
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You mean a psychotic member of an armed mob was shot in the neck when she tried to break down the last door between her and potential victims, after she and other members of that armed mob had physically broken windows and occupied the building in a deliberately violent manner, in a manner that clearly and intentionally conveyed a threat of additional violence.
That's a literal mob, by the way, with actual property damage and actual, credible threats of physical violence against actual people, not a "mob" of
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And fuck the moderators who voted that down with the "troll" label. That is shameful.
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by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 07, 2021 @02:18PM (#60907484)
And fuck you, too.
The byline says it all.
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One can only wonder what would have happened had Trump's tweet to his supporters telling them to go home had been allowed to stand. Instead, Twitter and YouTube took it down. So they are complicit in the ensuring violence. Except there's that little thing called CDA Section 230. Which holds service providers harmless for editing others content. Even if that content would likely have dissuaded violence.
Time to amend Section 230 and remove protection for editorial privileges.
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They removed the tweet because he kept saying how the election was stolen. Had he shut up and simply said "go home" it would still be up. Taking away his toy for being naughty is the funniest thing ever.
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because he kept saying how the election was stolen
That's not what I heard before they deleted it. That's just your opinion.
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S230 is critical for dumb pipes and needs to remain.
It's no longer a dumb pipe if intermediaries are censoring your material.
Died while "protesting" (Score:4, Informative)
https://www.reddit.com/r/Publi... [reddit.com]
Yeah protesting is the same as breaking past a secret service barricade. All the while being told you're going to be shot if you proceed. You just watched a woman die draped in a Trump flag. Totally worth it, right?
This is why Thou shalt not make a machine (Score:5, Interesting)
in the likeness of a human mind
Beware of 1984, not terminator.
All the crimes you commit each day that go unpunished because they are too petty to bother will be punished.
All the ways corporations can abuse you but don't because the payoff is not worth the effort will become profitable.
We are just barely starting to see public attention given to what "crackpots" have warned us about for decades. George Lucas (THX-1138, not star wars), George Orwell, Alvin Toffler, RMS, Cory Doctorow and others like them saw the problem, and nerds who read too much sf saw it. It's going to take a while before enough other folks see the problem, and that doesn't necessarily mean we'll do anything about it.
Just give me my facebook; I don't care about my privacy.
This will get worse before it gets better, *if* it gets better.
And then you're hungry again in an hour.... (Score:2)
Its like Chinese Food, an optimized culinary algorithm that effectively bludgeons all countries world wide to have a Chinese Restaurant and take out. No one can resist the overwhelming allure of spare ribs, egg rolls, won ton soup, shrimp fried rice, chow mien, and msg. No matter how much you can gorge on before passing out for a quick nap, you are inevitably hungry again in an hour, So this is just web marketing strategy to emulate what works in commercial markets: addiction and coercion with what they
Bullying? (Score:4, Interesting)
Making people personalized offers isn't "bullying". Fucking period.
It may be sleazy, it may even be harmful to society, but it ain't bullying.
Misusing words harms one's own argument.
Perhaps this is a translation error?
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Perhaps this is a translation error?
No, our translator is working perfectly. Garbage in = Garbage out.
Re:Bullying? (Score:5, Informative)
Some common unfair applications of algorithms in the field of online commerce are highly technical and obfuscated, and they subtly affect consumers' purchasing decisions. It is difficult for individual consumers to contend with such algorithms on their own.
In fact, a quick scan of that statement don't show any mention of "bullying". So either the English is probably not a direct translation of the Chinese statement.
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Makes sense. Thanks!
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I suspect it was some variant of "manipulation". "Bullying" comes with threats. This did not.
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Likely the translation gap is in coercing equating to bullying. Likely the real target is wasteful consumption. Excessive marketing driving the sales of useless junk which consumes resources and generates pollution in production and then generates more pollution when thrown away.
How many ways can you crack down on the production of wasteful junk. Kill it's marketing is one way. The government funding product evaluation, real accurate product reviews to kill junk product. Banning junk product is tricky, bloc
Sounds like business as usual (Score:4, Insightful)
Sounds like business as usual on the internet, and business as usual in the PRC.
Is the Chinese gov't really concerned about this, or are they just getting worried about the power of the internet firms and looking for an excuse to clip their wings?
Making Example of Jack Ma, Alibaba for Tech Sector (Score:4, Insightful)
Perhaps more broadly, the government reminding industry that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has the monopoly on using the Internet to bend the citizenry to their will, and third party groups like the tech sector must fully align their efforts with the goals of the Party.
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The financial industry in China is upset because Alibaba won't share user data with them (and the user data lets him offer better rates than the banks can, which is part of how he makes profit).
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And they're angry because Jack Ma isn't kowtowing to the CCP - they see what Alibaba is doing is trying to literally overthrow the government and institute a new one (albeit, a more democratic one).
That's why the CCP is curtailing and trying to disappear him - Western governments tried to use external trade to democr
Just China? (Score:1)