[Veraticus]

What a weird stance to take! What happens if apps refuse to self-censor or obey Chinese censorship laws? They are banned. So indeed, China does ban US apps. Twitter/X did not just leave China; it is blocked in mainland China and no one can access it.

[ETHisso2017]

That's not a weird stance at all. Twitter/X is blocked in China because it refuses to comply with Chinese law on censorship. China's law criminalizes behavior on censorship, which adheres to what modern notions of legal jurisprudence. The US law criminalizes origin and ownership, which violates a legal principle on bills of attainder.

[Veraticus]

So you acknowledge these apps are banned in China, and your assertion that what I said was "factually incorrect" was wrong?

[AlexandrB]

While US apps are slightly harmed by losing access to a market, it's really the freedom of Chinese citizens that is impacted by China banning apps. The US banning TikTok will harm ByteDance's bottom line but it also sets a precedent that the US government can dictate what you install on your phone. Why are people advocating for this like it's some kind of victory for freedom?

[JumpCrisscross]

> Why are people advocating for this like it's some kind of victory for freedom?

We’re not. It’s a victory for national security. It’s a collective curtailment on freedom, similar to how we’ve agreed Americans are not free to finance terrorism.

[axelthegerman]

While I personally disagree with the Chinese censorship laws, it is quite common that companies have to obey local laws to do business. If they're foreign companies and don't like it they can stay away.

So not a weird stance to take that US companies are not banned - they're not directly but indirectly it prevents many companies from anywhere who don't want to do business in China.

Subtle but important difference

[Veraticus]

So if I try to access Twitter/X in mainland China, what will happen?

Given that, would you say that Twitter/X is banned in mainland China?

I don't see how the ban being the result of its noncompliance with local laws doesn't mean it isn't banned.

[axelthegerman]

A) I'm not aware of their compliance status and B) being able to access something on the internet or not is not just about legality but also about the ability to enforce it.

I was just stating that in general a business needs to comply with laws where they do business. They can (and will) try to find ways around but it all comes back to enforcement.

If Twitter/X has no direct presence or interest in China, there is not much the local authorities can do to force them to comply with laws. If they own assets, employ people etc it looks very differently