Nothing of value was lost with Facebook. Not sure about Telegram but if they need to stop western propaganda from ruining their country, it is what it is.
The main goal is to stop people from organizing. Besides, if the revolution is strong enough, surely it can survive the people being exposed to competing ideas?
Perhaps. But I also have observed how quickly governments that are struggling to contain protests resort to disrupting the Internet to interrupt organization efforts. As for propaganda, no amount of seed will give you a harvest if there’s no soil to grow it in. Treating the people like little children that must be protected from dangerous ideas that would lead them astray strikes me as a sign of intellectual weakness.
The most powerful Western countries have and still do resort to censorship to keep their ideas popular. The Red Scare for example, which technically never ended since communist parties are still likely illegal in the US (“likely” because the law is ambiguous but I can’t imagine the courts will just say it’s fine if it ever went to a hearing). Communist parties have also recently been banned in Germany and Poland.
Nothing of value was lost with Facebook. Not sure about Telegram but if they need to stop western propaganda from ruining their country, it is what it is.
The main goal is to stop people from organizing. Besides, if the revolution is strong enough, surely it can survive the people being exposed to competing ideas?
You underestimate how much anti-left propaganda the West pumps out
Perhaps. But I also have observed how quickly governments that are struggling to contain protests resort to disrupting the Internet to interrupt organization efforts. As for propaganda, no amount of seed will give you a harvest if there’s no soil to grow it in. Treating the people like little children that must be protected from dangerous ideas that would lead them astray strikes me as a sign of intellectual weakness.
Sanctions, imposed by the U.S. is the soil.
If they need to resort to censorship to keep their ideas popular, maybe they aren’t that great after all
The most powerful Western countries have and still do resort to censorship to keep their ideas popular. The Red Scare for example, which technically never ended since communist parties are still likely illegal in the US (“likely” because the law is ambiguous but I can’t imagine the courts will just say it’s fine if it ever went to a hearing). Communist parties have also recently been banned in Germany and Poland.
I’m not saying they don’t.
If I killed a man, would that make someone else killing a man any more or less okay?