The meat of the story is that Omaha man worked for Marriott hotels on customer support. Their support system allows their agents to like tweets.
The man appears to have inadvertently clicked like on a tweet while dealing with a large influx of support messages (due to a promo going on) thanking Marriott for listing Tibet as its own country which was a huge no-no due to Mariott's presence in China. Execs fire him as a part of their "sorry China" grovelling.
My kneejerk is to believe fired man. I've clicked like on things by accident browsing regular Twitter, never mind a support system designed to skim through hundreds of requests. Unfortunately belief isn't going to restore the job, this is another lesson for the pile that companies will axe employees over fixing (heck, explaining) a problem with the system. It's the cheapest option.
If liking a tweet will infuriate the largest (by population) country in the world, maybe $14/hr support agents shouldn't be able to one-click like tweets.
Another question does occur - if it's such a big deal for them, why is/was Tibet listed as its own country in their system that prompted the liked tweet in the first place?
Yea it's weird I feel like liking the tweet should pale in comparison to whoever listed Tibet as its own country. Seems like the mistake was listing tibet as a country on the survey and they fired a guy just because he put attention to it by liking a tweet (and was thus used as a sacrifice).
If I were China, I'd probably demand the firing of someone more consequential than a random minimum wage worker who had little to deal with the insult in the first place.
I totally believe "the UI sucks argument" as well. I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally liked something on Instagram because of the stupid double tap a photo = like, not zoom feature.
Instagram is a piece of software millions of people use every day. I've designed software that 5 - 100 people use a day, and I can tell you the UI is going to suck if you have a data architect design the UI for your CRUD application. I'm sure the UI sucked on Mariott's app, I'd bet my life savings on it.
> If liking a tweet will infuriate the largest (by population) country in the world, maybe $14/hr support agents shouldn't be able to one-click like tweets.
I think this is the most pragmatic thing mentioned yet.
Social media accounts are a real-time, globally visible way to communicate with the world. Treat it with respect. If you care about subtle mess-ups then have a review system or something.
I'm guessing the ideal PR person running the account is:
* educated in how that platform works (aka, young and social media savvy)
* experienced in the plethora of ways PR can go wrong (or well for that matter). "I know this looks innocent, but it's best to remain quiet on issues of X", for example.
and I'd guess that's a sweet spot that's probably hard to fill with one person.
>Another question does occur - if it's such a big deal for them, why is/was Tibet listed as its own country in their system that prompted the liked tweet in the first place?
The survey was outsourced to an outside company.
>And even in this specific case, where a low-level Marriott employee in Omaha clicked “like” on a tweet thanking Marriott for a survey designed by a third-party vendor, the hotel chain got in big trouble.
Marriott clearly has zero training on geopolitical issues so the third party vendor didn't have a template to follow, likely they just Googled "list of countries in the world" and copied the list. Marriott needs to be providing a list of countries to all outside vendors.
I can't help but feel the real problem here is China. Those death threats and angry tweats were likely coming from China employed shills. Such a ticking time bomb the CPC.
I think that frames the issue incorrectly. The question is, whether he clicked it intentionally or not, he should not be fired for saying something the government of China dislikes (much less clicking like on what someone else said). China should not be extending censorship to Omaha.
Sometimes, your service to the company consists of being thrown under the bus.
The older I get, the more I find the prematurely cynical people I grew up around had it half-right.
And the naively, or ignorantly, or cluefully -- I still don't quite know which -- happy people I grew up around, had the other half of that right: Do your own thing, enjoy it as much as you can, and walk away from the negativity.
Maybe if we could do enough of the latter, places like Marriott would never get the traction to step all over their employees.
As for China, well, I'm a bit older. The people I met who got over here from China, tended not to go back.
I don't think it was such a big deal for them until China told them that that it was a big deal and punished them accordingly until they fixed stuff according to China's liking. Everything that happened after (including firing the guy) is just fallout to clean up an issue that they didn't predict, and they're taking steps to do what China wants (like not listing Tibet as a country anymore) in order to keep operating there.
Simplest answer is often the best answer. If the survey had never happened with Tibet as a country, the tweet would never have happened, and then the whole scenario would never have come to light. It's easy to predict this in hindsight. I honestly think people didn't think about this in the past. Whether or not it's right is an entirely different question.
"If liking a tweet will infuriate the largest (by population) country in the world, maybe $14/hr support agents shouldn't be able to one-click like tweets.
Another question does occur - if it's such a big deal for them, why is/was Tibet listed as its own country in their system that prompted the liked tweet in the first place?"
> I really hope this doesn't become the moral of all this.
It's two very rare mistakes in a row. One listing Tibet, which actually got noticed. Another was the misclick, which also got noticed.
But it would be extremely costly if we suddenly had a confirmation dialog on low level employees liking tweets, or if every form drop-down needs to be approved by senior management.
> Another question does occur - if it's such a big deal for them, why is/was Tibet listed as its own country in their system that prompted the liked tweet in the first place?
Even worse is that the listing came from a 3rd party survey firm. The employee is paying the price for what was ultimately them fouling up.
Even if it wasn't an accident -- even if he saw the Tweet, and on behalf of Marriott and in full intention of broadcasting such, he clicked "Like" on this tweet, it's completely insane he would be fired for it. The tweet exhibits a positive sentiment. I would not expect most people to know that this sentiment matters to China.
This is another example of China exerting influence on the open web, and it's shameful that we have ceded leadership to China like this.
It is not that hard to imagine being fired by "clicking" likes, let's not oversimplify like this. Official tweeter accounts carry weights. Plus this is not about China at all, what if this is a Nazi tweet? An ISIS tweet? An anti-LGBT tweet? It's either the company's way of dealing with PR problems, or the employee's misconduct, but not about China.
Employees in social media teams should not be clicking LIKE in anything. It’s too risky to the business, and it conflates your personal preferences with corporate business goals.
You cannot be yourself on social media anymore. You just have to be inactive, a fake, or pretend to be like what the echo chamber asks you to be.
Lets be real about America's relationship with China. They are our enemies. Both parties seek to dominate the globe even if nobody is anxious to do so bullets and bombs. Both parties have values that can never be reconciled.
How do you reconcile the notion that man ought to be free with a society that believes in lifelong servitude and a mans proper place under each others boots. A society that poisons its people and executes the parties responsible only when it becomes a public embarrassment. That dissembles undesirable portions of its populace for spare body parts for more affluent and desirable portions of its populace. That rolls over its people with tanks when they dare to disagree. Americans may be at many times poor examples of the values we hold dear but our society is at worst working towards living our ideals.
China is nothing but a more tractable, predictable, and sane North Korea and nothing in our lifetimes or our childrens lifetimes is going to change that.
A company that holds itself to be an American company shouldn't bow its neck to terrible people or ask Americans to do so.
I am aware that they are a multinational and may not wish to be seen as American which is just fine by me. I just don't wish our government employees or leadership to patronize them and strongly suggest that those who feel strongly about America also abstain from giving anyone affiliated with Marriott their money.
I don't think the issue is Chinese culture, but it is Chinese leadership--which, admittedly, has encouraged and created a culture of concerning nationalism and subservience to authoritarians with no respect for human rights or rule of law.
If you look back in contemporary Chinese history, there are several episodes where influential groups were openly supporting a more democratic society.
It wasn't Chinese culture that stopped them. It was Mao, the CCP, the tanks in Tienamen Square, and the more recently the ubiquitous propaganda and censorship.
I agree that the CCP is an enemy we should we wary of. But we should be just as wary of writing off any large group of fellow humans as enemies. The enemy is the brainwashers themselves, not their victims.
> I just don't wish our government employees or leadership to patronize them and strongly suggest that those who feel strongly about America also abstain from giving anyone affiliated with Marriott their money.
I feel kinda bad for Marriot: Chinese boycott them for liking the tweet, and now americans are furious that they apologized.
I am neither American nor Chinese, but your oversimplification will be taken more seriously if
(i) US stops borrowing insane amounts of money from China to fund its grand lifestyle (aka beggars cannot be choosers)
(ii) you could spend some time introspecting on the said grand lifestyle which plays a major role in having to deal mainly with first world problems (are we living our ideals?) vs third world ones (how to manage so many poor people without access to a lot of resources?)
(iii) US itself didn't have an extremely hypocritical stance wherever it suits them. I don't see too many Americans talking about the labor rights in oil rich countries
You know, its a complex system. Although I do agree with your thesis (no company should bow to these kind of petty demands), its not because the demand is coming from China. I would say the same thing to those who profit from, say, the lunatic patent system imposed via US on other countries.
I agree with what you said, partly. And I agree that there are serious problems with chinese culture and government (at least, from my perspective). But, why should the US government be any better?
I find stories like this very frustrating. It seems pretty clear that:
1) Roy Jones did nothing wrong, but lost his job through no fault of his own.
2) Marriott did something morally wrong because it was easy, and will suffer zero consequences.
3) China doesn't really care about the underlying issue, but is engaging in a cynical power play to exert dominance.
In a better world, Marriott would have refused to buckle, or having done so, would face meaningful consequences. In this world, the only party in this sotry to actually suffer is the only one who is morally blameless. And that's just how it is.
> China doesn't really care about the underlying issue, but is engaging in a cynical power play to exert dominance.
Boy, I wish that was true. China is petulant beyond belief. A thousands years old civilization that rallies their netizens any time anybody dare "insult the feelings of the Chinese people".
That's how illegitimate and insecure powers behave.
The article clearly mentions that they had to punish someone. Also, China imposed harsh consequences in the form of lost revenue for Marriott due to the liked tweet:
"China forced Marriott to suspend all online booking for a week at its nearly 300 Chinese hotels. A Chinese leader also demanded the company publicly apologize and “seriously deal with the people responsible,” the Journal reported."
> China forced Marriott to suspend all online booking for a week at its nearly 300 Chinese hotels. A Chinese leader also demanded the company publicly apologize and “seriously deal with the people responsible,” the Journal reported.
I look forward to the coming years where China continues to grow in influence and power, and the useful things they choose to do with them. /s
The last time I felt like I was seeing a use of government power this idiotic was when Congress decided to investigate cheating in the MLB (or NFL or whatever it was).
And thus the Chinese Communist Party's cold authoritarian censorship extends overseas to strike at the job of a US citizen.
It was just a few months ago that I wrote this here on HN:
> I even feel a personal dampening on what I will say publicly about China on social media, just because of hypothetical tech/travel opportunities, and I don't even live there.
Obviously, those fears were founded. Part of me is happy about the Trump tariffs because it will force more multinational corporations to stand up and show their true selves with regards to what matters more to them: access to the Chinese market, or basic human justice and dignity.
Stories like this are how companies end up on my mental boycott list which is fairly indefinite especially when their value-add over competitors is limited or non-existent. I'd be glad to read the other side of this as I usually don't like to draw conclusions from pieces like this, but I suspect it's pretty clear in this case. /me slots Marriott just above Nestle in mental Rolodex. Bet they can't quantify that, I don't have a Twitter account.
My father was 'Rookie of the Year' in 1988 for Marriott hotels. He got to take my mother to an actual grand ball at the time for their ceremonies, crystal chandelier and all. He was only a cook at the time but an exceptionally hard worker who really stood out. He worked two jobs at the time. One being at Marriott hotels, and the other cleaning a whole Kroger's floor by himself. 20 something thousand square feet, swept, mopped, buffed, and shined single-handed after a full shift at Marriott. For some reason this story stood out to me. The world these days is sometimes too connected for its own good that it forgets to relate to the individual.
This is an atrocity. The image in the said tweet clearly shows a decently large group of people holding 'thanks Marriot' cards. It's easy to think why the employee liked it. And really how many people know about geopolitically sensitive areas like Tibet...
Honestly, Marriott is a terrible chain with contempt for its own customers. Every time I use a Marriott (not always by choice) I’m insulted by the quality of food for the price they ask. I once got $10 ‘fresh squeezed OJ’ at breakfast before knowing the price and realizing they were pouring it from a Tropicana container.
So when I hear this story I’m not even remotely surprised by Marriotts behavior. Upper management has its head so far up its own rear end this is par for the course.
"Dozens of social media accounts were tweeting angry things, including many death threats, at both Roy and Marriott. This seems especially odd considering Twitter itself is officially banned in China, and thus can be accessed only by residents breaking the law or by bot accounts."
Not sure why they assume that "dozens of social media accounts" of pro-China supporters is not possible. They're making some weird assumption that only people within China could possibly support the Chinese government on the issue. This paragraph makes no sense at all. The issue is actually quite controversial, and in my experience most Chinese overseas support China on the issue, as it's seen as similar to the US/Hawaii situation and an affront to China's sovereignty and management of internal affairs.
It's strange to me how much emphasis they're putting on the tweet. Wasn't the spark that incensed China so much their decision to list Tibet as a country in the survey?
Came here to say this, and cant even really connect the dots on how a hotel chain recognizing a country or not is not the bigger deal than liking a twitter post. Shoot, if I were in the same position I would think I was promoting the chain by liking posts related to it. Complete insanity.
The real story here is not the at-will status of American employees, but the extraterritorial application of law. A Chinese worker is familiar with Chinese censorship and policy and know that Tibet is a third rail issue. You cannot possibly expect a low-level employee in Nebraska would know this. So when a country (like the U.S., like China) tries to impose its laws (like the U.S. did in New Zealand to Kim Dotcom) you have unexpected consequences. As countries seek to criminalize webhosting (FOSTA), the Internet will be increasingly siloed. If you want to know what the Internet will look like in twenty years, look at North Korea. Connections outside extremely limited. Ony North Korean laws apply. That is the direction we're headed.
A company will always err on the side of firing an employee when threatened with a lawsuit or government action. The principle behind this behavior is very simple: make sure the finger is pointed at the party least capable of fighting for its own rights.
It's anecdote time using this throwaway account.
I used to work as a software engineer at a major hedge fund, where most of the computer systems were run by an outside vendor. One of these systems was a Flash-based data tool, an archaic piece of work that was poorly implemented, entirely undocumented, and thoroughly hated by everyone at the firm. I was part of a three-person team who, along with the CTO, were hired to replace this website. We were told to use whatever means were necessary to figure out a way to build better systems for the hedge fund.
On a fine summer afternoon not so long ago, my teammate was trying to figure out how the existing Flash-based website worked. This person downloaded a popular Flash decompilation tool in order to peek at the UI source code. Neither him nor me were aware that the same vendor who ran this Flash-based website had also installed surveillance software that pulled web browsing history from every computer at the firm.
It turned out that the firm's contract with this vendor included explicit verbiage that prohibited any kind of reverse engineering of the Flash-based website, and specifically called out Flash decompilation as a forbidden activity. Obviously, none of the employees were ever notified of this clause in the contract, and were unaware of the forbidden nature of this activity.
A few days later, the entire department - the "offending" colleague and two other engineers including myself, as well as the CTO - were all summarily fired for violating a contract clause that none knew about.
This man's story is sad and regrettable, yet it does not surprise me in the least. The firm screwed up, and chose to take a course of action that limited its own responsibility at the expense of four livelihoods.
Sic transit gloria mundi, while American greed continues on its own vicious course.
This is the exact wrong approach to incident management. A business intending not to make this kind of mistakes again would hold a post mortem and fix the system failures encountered. Marriott just needed a scapegoat.
I feel bad for guy. Everyone has had some mind numbing task that causes you to space out. But! Here is a half baked app idea that might prevent, or at least reduce, this unfortunate situation. Make it like the nuclear launch systems in movies (probably set in rural Nebraska deep down 300 feet below a corn field). There are multiple people getting the same social media feeds. They react independently, but actual responses are delayed. If all the people noticed an event (tweet etc) it goes into a further consideration pool, the rest are dropped. In the further consideration pool, event reaction only get out and leave the system (become real) if the majority are in agreement. In the binary situations it’s a simple vote majority. In free form text, use ML to characterize the content into a few buckets (affirmation, lukewarm, negative and joke (or whatever)). You should call the app “social kaboom averted.”
Personally, I want to live in a society where all three of the voters vote for Tibet over bastard commies. Eff Marriot, or no, wait. Eff Mary-rot!
The system could also work on a delay. So the same person has to double check their own tweets (and hacker news comments) after x hours. That app is called “sleep on it.”
[+] [-] corobo|8 years ago|reply
The man appears to have inadvertently clicked like on a tweet while dealing with a large influx of support messages (due to a promo going on) thanking Marriott for listing Tibet as its own country which was a huge no-no due to Mariott's presence in China. Execs fire him as a part of their "sorry China" grovelling.
My kneejerk is to believe fired man. I've clicked like on things by accident browsing regular Twitter, never mind a support system designed to skim through hundreds of requests. Unfortunately belief isn't going to restore the job, this is another lesson for the pile that companies will axe employees over fixing (heck, explaining) a problem with the system. It's the cheapest option.
If liking a tweet will infuriate the largest (by population) country in the world, maybe $14/hr support agents shouldn't be able to one-click like tweets.
Another question does occur - if it's such a big deal for them, why is/was Tibet listed as its own country in their system that prompted the liked tweet in the first place?
[+] [-] chrischen|8 years ago|reply
If I were China, I'd probably demand the firing of someone more consequential than a random minimum wage worker who had little to deal with the insult in the first place.
[+] [-] Declanomous|8 years ago|reply
Instagram is a piece of software millions of people use every day. I've designed software that 5 - 100 people use a day, and I can tell you the UI is going to suck if you have a data architect design the UI for your CRUD application. I'm sure the UI sucked on Mariott's app, I'd bet my life savings on it.
[+] [-] wdr1|8 years ago|reply
Either way, pretty shitty on Marriott's part.
[+] [-] B-Con|8 years ago|reply
I think this is the most pragmatic thing mentioned yet.
Social media accounts are a real-time, globally visible way to communicate with the world. Treat it with respect. If you care about subtle mess-ups then have a review system or something.
I'm guessing the ideal PR person running the account is:
* educated in how that platform works (aka, young and social media savvy)
* experienced in the plethora of ways PR can go wrong (or well for that matter). "I know this looks innocent, but it's best to remain quiet on issues of X", for example.
and I'd guess that's a sweet spot that's probably hard to fill with one person.
[+] [-] astura|8 years ago|reply
The survey was outsourced to an outside company.
>And even in this specific case, where a low-level Marriott employee in Omaha clicked “like” on a tweet thanking Marriott for a survey designed by a third-party vendor, the hotel chain got in big trouble.
Marriott clearly has zero training on geopolitical issues so the third party vendor didn't have a template to follow, likely they just Googled "list of countries in the world" and copied the list. Marriott needs to be providing a list of countries to all outside vendors.
[+] [-] Rapzid|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] forapurpose|8 years ago|reply
I think that frames the issue incorrectly. The question is, whether he clicked it intentionally or not, he should not be fired for saying something the government of China dislikes (much less clicking like on what someone else said). China should not be extending censorship to Omaha.
[+] [-] pasbesoin|8 years ago|reply
The older I get, the more I find the prematurely cynical people I grew up around had it half-right.
And the naively, or ignorantly, or cluefully -- I still don't quite know which -- happy people I grew up around, had the other half of that right: Do your own thing, enjoy it as much as you can, and walk away from the negativity.
Maybe if we could do enough of the latter, places like Marriott would never get the traction to step all over their employees.
As for China, well, I'm a bit older. The people I met who got over here from China, tended not to go back.
Take that as you will.
[+] [-] PakG1|8 years ago|reply
Simplest answer is often the best answer. If the survey had never happened with Tibet as a country, the tweet would never have happened, and then the whole scenario would never have come to light. It's easy to predict this in hindsight. I honestly think people didn't think about this in the past. Whether or not it's right is an entirely different question.
[+] [-] muzani|8 years ago|reply
Another question does occur - if it's such a big deal for them, why is/was Tibet listed as its own country in their system that prompted the liked tweet in the first place?"
> I really hope this doesn't become the moral of all this.
It's two very rare mistakes in a row. One listing Tibet, which actually got noticed. Another was the misclick, which also got noticed.
But it would be extremely costly if we suddenly had a confirmation dialog on low level employees liking tweets, or if every form drop-down needs to be approved by senior management.
[+] [-] HenryBemis|8 years ago|reply
This is the very definition of "throwing under a bus". This is how fast Marriott (in the US of A) will throw you under the first bus that comes by.
This is how Marriott respects the individuals and has the capacity to handle a sensitive situation.
[+] [-] kitd|8 years ago|reply
Even worse is that the listing came from a 3rd party survey firm. The employee is paying the price for what was ultimately them fouling up.
[+] [-] conanbatt|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] emodendroket|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cylinder|8 years ago|reply
They can dismiss him because they don't like his lunch selection that day and he has no rights.
That's at will employment. This type of situation plays out all over the country everyday.
[+] [-] throw7|8 years ago|reply
How can we at least get back to the NNTP type of control we had in the 90's? HN is teetering on failure, and I'd just like to get back to NNTP? :(
[+] [-] intopieces|8 years ago|reply
This is another example of China exerting influence on the open web, and it's shameful that we have ceded leadership to China like this.
[+] [-] tinza123|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jpttsn|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] stupidgeek314|8 years ago|reply
Not if you are the Chinese government... not at all.
> This is another example of China exerting influse on the open web
This has nothing to do with the open web, there is not censorship involved. This was Marriott's business relationship with China.
[+] [-] banned1|8 years ago|reply
You cannot be yourself on social media anymore. You just have to be inactive, a fake, or pretend to be like what the echo chamber asks you to be.
[+] [-] michaelmrose|8 years ago|reply
How do you reconcile the notion that man ought to be free with a society that believes in lifelong servitude and a mans proper place under each others boots. A society that poisons its people and executes the parties responsible only when it becomes a public embarrassment. That dissembles undesirable portions of its populace for spare body parts for more affluent and desirable portions of its populace. That rolls over its people with tanks when they dare to disagree. Americans may be at many times poor examples of the values we hold dear but our society is at worst working towards living our ideals.
China is nothing but a more tractable, predictable, and sane North Korea and nothing in our lifetimes or our childrens lifetimes is going to change that.
A company that holds itself to be an American company shouldn't bow its neck to terrible people or ask Americans to do so.
I am aware that they are a multinational and may not wish to be seen as American which is just fine by me. I just don't wish our government employees or leadership to patronize them and strongly suggest that those who feel strongly about America also abstain from giving anyone affiliated with Marriott their money.
[+] [-] chibg10|8 years ago|reply
If you look back in contemporary Chinese history, there are several episodes where influential groups were openly supporting a more democratic society.
It wasn't Chinese culture that stopped them. It was Mao, the CCP, the tanks in Tienamen Square, and the more recently the ubiquitous propaganda and censorship.
I agree that the CCP is an enemy we should we wary of. But we should be just as wary of writing off any large group of fellow humans as enemies. The enemy is the brainwashers themselves, not their victims.
[+] [-] kristianov|8 years ago|reply
I feel kinda bad for Marriot: Chinese boycott them for liking the tweet, and now americans are furious that they apologized.
[+] [-] probably_not|8 years ago|reply
(i) US stops borrowing insane amounts of money from China to fund its grand lifestyle (aka beggars cannot be choosers)
(ii) you could spend some time introspecting on the said grand lifestyle which plays a major role in having to deal mainly with first world problems (are we living our ideals?) vs third world ones (how to manage so many poor people without access to a lot of resources?)
(iii) US itself didn't have an extremely hypocritical stance wherever it suits them. I don't see too many Americans talking about the labor rights in oil rich countries
You know, its a complex system. Although I do agree with your thesis (no company should bow to these kind of petty demands), its not because the demand is coming from China. I would say the same thing to those who profit from, say, the lunatic patent system imposed via US on other countries.
[+] [-] earenndil|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Lazare|8 years ago|reply
1) Roy Jones did nothing wrong, but lost his job through no fault of his own.
2) Marriott did something morally wrong because it was easy, and will suffer zero consequences.
3) China doesn't really care about the underlying issue, but is engaging in a cynical power play to exert dominance.
In a better world, Marriott would have refused to buckle, or having done so, would face meaningful consequences. In this world, the only party in this sotry to actually suffer is the only one who is morally blameless. And that's just how it is.
[+] [-] factsaresacred|8 years ago|reply
Boy, I wish that was true. China is petulant beyond belief. A thousands years old civilization that rallies their netizens any time anybody dare "insult the feelings of the Chinese people".
That's how illegitimate and insecure powers behave.
[+] [-] sah2ed|8 years ago|reply
"China forced Marriott to suspend all online booking for a week at its nearly 300 Chinese hotels. A Chinese leader also demanded the company publicly apologize and “seriously deal with the people responsible,” the Journal reported."
[+] [-] rndmize|8 years ago|reply
I look forward to the coming years where China continues to grow in influence and power, and the useful things they choose to do with them. /s
The last time I felt like I was seeing a use of government power this idiotic was when Congress decided to investigate cheating in the MLB (or NFL or whatever it was).
[+] [-] ghostcluster|8 years ago|reply
It was just a few months ago that I wrote this here on HN:
> I even feel a personal dampening on what I will say publicly about China on social media, just because of hypothetical tech/travel opportunities, and I don't even live there.
Obviously, those fears were founded. Part of me is happy about the Trump tariffs because it will force more multinational corporations to stand up and show their true selves with regards to what matters more to them: access to the Chinese market, or basic human justice and dignity.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16272683
[+] [-] kodablah|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jdironman|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] seshagiric|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kylnew|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Aloha|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chrischen|8 years ago|reply
Not sure why they assume that "dozens of social media accounts" of pro-China supporters is not possible. They're making some weird assumption that only people within China could possibly support the Chinese government on the issue. This paragraph makes no sense at all. The issue is actually quite controversial, and in my experience most Chinese overseas support China on the issue, as it's seen as similar to the US/Hawaii situation and an affront to China's sovereignty and management of internal affairs.
[+] [-] avree|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] coldacid|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] peapicker|8 years ago|reply
But as to appeasing China, well... I'm not sympathetic.
[+] [-] clishem|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] S_A_P|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] _emacsomancer_|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zeth___|8 years ago|reply
That will be a real black mirror episode.
[+] [-] your-nanny|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pseingatl|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] piss_a_mystic|8 years ago|reply
It's anecdote time using this throwaway account.
I used to work as a software engineer at a major hedge fund, where most of the computer systems were run by an outside vendor. One of these systems was a Flash-based data tool, an archaic piece of work that was poorly implemented, entirely undocumented, and thoroughly hated by everyone at the firm. I was part of a three-person team who, along with the CTO, were hired to replace this website. We were told to use whatever means were necessary to figure out a way to build better systems for the hedge fund.
On a fine summer afternoon not so long ago, my teammate was trying to figure out how the existing Flash-based website worked. This person downloaded a popular Flash decompilation tool in order to peek at the UI source code. Neither him nor me were aware that the same vendor who ran this Flash-based website had also installed surveillance software that pulled web browsing history from every computer at the firm.
It turned out that the firm's contract with this vendor included explicit verbiage that prohibited any kind of reverse engineering of the Flash-based website, and specifically called out Flash decompilation as a forbidden activity. Obviously, none of the employees were ever notified of this clause in the contract, and were unaware of the forbidden nature of this activity.
A few days later, the entire department - the "offending" colleague and two other engineers including myself, as well as the CTO - were all summarily fired for violating a contract clause that none knew about.
This man's story is sad and regrettable, yet it does not surprise me in the least. The firm screwed up, and chose to take a course of action that limited its own responsibility at the expense of four livelihoods.
Sic transit gloria mundi, while American greed continues on its own vicious course.
[+] [-] fra|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Tistel|8 years ago|reply
Personally, I want to live in a society where all three of the voters vote for Tibet over bastard commies. Eff Marriot, or no, wait. Eff Mary-rot!
The system could also work on a delay. So the same person has to double check their own tweets (and hacker news comments) after x hours. That app is called “sleep on it.”