Commentary

Marvel abets Chinese censorship

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The ruler of the world’s second most powerful country feels so insecure that he has to ban mentions of Winnie the Pooh because some people think there’s a resemblance. It would be laughable except for the real-world consequences. I’m sure none of the panels at the Chengdu Worldcon discussed Milne’s character. You also aren’t allowed to discuss it in an online game called Marvel Rivals. The use of a long list of words and phrases is flagged as inappropriate in game chat. Among the phrases Marvel won’t let you use are “Winnie the Pooh,” “Pooh,” “Tiananmen,” “1989,” and “Free Taiwan.” Ironically, Disney, which owns Marvel, also owns the animated version of Winnie the Pooh. So Disney has acquiesced in censoring the mention of its own property.
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Racist typography 1

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It’s gotten incredibly common: in the same sentence in supposedly literate websites, “Black” as a skin color is consistently capitalized, while “brown,” “white,” “yellow” and so on are consistently in lower case, sometimes in the same sentence. The racial discrimination is so obvious it’s plainly intentional. What purpose does it serve?

Is it to tell us that “Black” people are the Master Race, while others are subordinate? That would be silly. Is it to provoke and anger people, so they’ll say something intemperate and open themselves to accusations of racism? I’ve often thought that, but a complex intention like that makes no sense.
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The coming TikTok security disaster

This entry was posted in Censorship Commentary and tagged censorship China TikTok on by

As I’m writing this, the US is set to ban applications that access TikTok’s Internet service on January 19. What no one is talking about is the security nightmare that will result.

The ban won’t forbid access to TikTok; it will just forbid the preferred way to access it. App stores in the US won’t be allowed to offer the client application. Lots of other sources will still offer it. Some will be legitimate. Others will put up Trojan Horse applications. Scammers will target users trying to keep access to their accounts. A lot of devices will be infiltrated with malware.
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Uganda Worldcon bid shifts to Rwanda

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The bid for a 2028 Worldcon in Uganda, which I had criticized here and here, has changed its proposed venue to Kigali, Rwanda. The name is now ConKigali. It may be an improvement in some ways, but is it enough of one to get serious consideration?

Freedom House gives Rwanda a rating of 23, categorized as “not free.” This is lower than Uganda’s rating of 34. From the standpoint of fans’ personal safety, though, Rwanda may be the less dangerous of the two. Homosexuality isn’t outlawed, but people traveling there still need to be careful what opinions they express. The US State Department has issued a long list of “significant human rights issues” in Rwanda.
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