In a slight tangent, but one which I feel is still relevant to the topic, Reddit has recently announced their worst policy yet:
Reddit will now start warning and banning posters for upvoting "policy-breaking content," where the "policy" is Whatever We Feel Like. Just a few hours after this announcement Reddit had already sent out a mass wave of such warnings, as follows:
Not that these "policies" would have ever been reasonable anyways— but notice how these warnings don't even allege which "policies" are being broken. You "engaged" with "abusive content," you better start "making changes" for "healthier behavior"— or else.
This is what makes the character of our Western corporate thought police "totalitarian"— they are never through with you. They are not satisfied if you simply acquiesce to their rules.
You need to be made to believe in the rules yourself. There will be wide room for you to debate the latest capeshit or capeshit-adjacent film and upfloof heckin pupperinos, but that is your only freedom— the freedom to consoom product. The boundaries of acceptable discussion will never be spelled out this clearly— in classic corporate Newspeak, the admins even declaim all responsibility: they've "been alerted" of your activity. The notice of your transgressions merely appeared to them from on high, they are only the middle managers interpreting the strange and precarious whims of fate.
Of course in practice they can't really stop people from votecrime, it's really a ridiculous concept and hardly worth the time it takes to criticize. I could be out lesson planning or working out or working on my novel instead of wasting my time here. But I think it matters in a small way, it betrays the very ugly spirit of a small soul, and serves as a reminder that there is no transgression too petty for our vindictive keyboard warrior janitors. If this is any indication of future trends, the Chinese government hasn't gone far enough— it is only cancelling the dissidents who speak out. Soon it will have to cancel the dissidents who listen in, too.
Reddit and China and the WHO are all of one spirit— we've disappointed them. Why did we fail them, didn't we know better? Bertolt Brecht famously said of the Soviets that they could always dissolve the people and elect another. Today we go further— we must dissolve
the person— and then what?