[archhn]

The panic is people's fear of the Iron Heel[1]. For most of us, the systems we depend on are controlled by other people. In this chaotic political climate, when these systems start closing in on us, or restricting us in new ways, there's no way of knowing where the tightening will end. Some are incredibly insulated and have no worries about the kind of world we're living in, but others are constantly on edge and feel that we're sleepwalking into a dystopian nightmare. That's what this "panic" is about.

[1]: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1164/1164-h/1164-h.htm

[jeffbee]

The only basis we have for panic here is that reading skills and critical thinking are in dangerously short supply among commenters here, who collectively believe themselves to be smart and independent thinkers despite all available evidence.

[archhn]

Big tech has been rolling out censorship all over the place lately. People suspect that ulterior political motives are causing Google to do this. I don't think mistrusting the motives of Google means that the people here lack "reading skills and critical thinking."

One of the terms included in its abuse policies is "hate speech." This is an extraordinarily ambiguous word which can virtually apply to any speech that is critical of anything. It is a term that has come to be known, by some of us, as a tool the political left uses to censor dissent. For example, saying that a man is a man and a woman is a woman can be considered hate speech against the trans community.

This move is part of a larger trend. Some people see it. Others don't.

[jeffbee]

9/10 with one demerit for omitting the compulsory "wake up, sheeple".

[archhn]

“The British are coming!” -- Paul Revere

"Put a sock in it, ya wanker." -- You in 1775, probably.

[varnaud]

>For example, saying that a man is a man and a woman is a woman can be considered hate speech against the trans community.

If you can't understand why this is the case, then I'm sorry for your lack of critical thinking.

[skinkestek]

To me this isn't as much about reading skills as it is about being aware of and remembering newer history and being able to apply a mental ruler to the observations and see what way it is heading.

That second part I consider close to critical thinking and it seems to be what people does.

[thisiscorrect]

What indication is there that any new restrictions are being placed on a user's content? The blog post from Google only mentions the change of sending email notifications to users.

[archhn]

It has something to do with their "abuse program:" https://support.google.com/docs/answer/148505?hl=en. I can't find a date on this, but I assume that this article is about the implementation of this program.

[ehsankia]

There's snapshots going back to 2014:

https://web.archive.org/web/20141222190112/https://support.g...

Again, none of this is new. People have been abusing Drive to host illegal file for years, and have been getting banned for it. The only change is that now you get a notification and can dispute it. It's a strict improvement.

[dc-programmer]

Otherwise known as the slippery slope logical fallacy