Because it's not necessarily about the / data privacy/, it's about the ability of a foreign adversary to influence the American populous in subtle ways over time.
By simply suppressing topics, or elevating trends they might find helpful in swaying the populous.
That's what propaganda is and it works.
Best case: I am not propagandized by any state media || Second worst case: I am propagandized by my own country's media || Worst case: I am propagandized by a foreign adversary's media
The amount of mental gymnastics to justify censorship in this thread is off the charts. A really solid anti utopia material. One can probably make a dystopian museum exhibition with quotes from this thread.
On a similar note, I have never seen so much bigotry and populism on HN as in this and H1B threads.
Link a video. What is the alleged propaganda that is so threatening to national security Americans can't be allowed to see it?
In the article, this discussion, all the media I've read... I've yet to see a single example of this alleged propaganda and manipulation by the CPC. What propaganda? Manipulated into believing what?
> it's about the ability of a foreign adversary
Hang on, 'foreign adversary'? Who makes all of America's stuff? Who sent so much of the jobs and manufacturing over there?
> to influence the American populous [sic] in subtle ways over time.
Eg, pointing out Israel's atrocities and how they lead right back to us, or about advantages of socialism compared to oligarchy.
Most other countries allow foreign media to be aired quite freely. Any 'subtle influence' is in a sea of other influences, and quite diluted.
Diverse media with free exchange of ideas leads to a populace with a chance of being informed. Restricting media to the US megacorps is obviously a terrible idea, no?
> That's what propaganda is and it works.
The solution to propaganda is to educate people and teach them critical thinking. However, that would damage the yacht class far too much.
> By simply suppressing topics, or elevating trends they might find helpful in swaying the populous.
Isn't that exactly what US media does as well? Every media has an owner with his own interests, the information they'll provide you will be carefully crafted to not harm those interests.