It's been strange/scary to see weapons of war running the same open-source software as flying toys that I've played with myself (the Betaflight HUD is clearly visible in some of the footage from Ukrainian drones). I guess there's always been a concern that somebody would weaponise a consumer/hobbyist drone, but that concern has been more about the potential for terrorism rather than their use in a major war.
Incredibly interesting, almost reminds me of a black mirror episode. I can’t imagine apple and google will keep the app on their stores after press like this though - there is no way finding a war (regardless of what side your on) is something they like.
But raises the question - if you make money on a platform, can you be deplatformed for what you do with the money rather than the content on the platform? If I make money from a clean farming game, but use it fund something bad, should the farming game be removed from the App Store?
Presumably that’s up to governments in different jurisdictions. If Lockheed wants to sell weaponry to France, presumably it’s okay. If they want to sell it to Iran they’re subject to restrictions.
This is wild. Swap out a couple assets, change "PDF" to a different rebel group like "ISIS" or "Proud Boys" and you have something that is literally a one-way ticket to Gitmo. This is extremist propaganda.
Yet another link for the "our freedom fighters, their terrorists" collection.
It's worth reading one of the many[0] UN reports that cover the Myanmar Military Junta's varied crimes, from indiscriminate airstrikes on civilians to mass rape to literal genocide. Opposition to this sort of thing does not entail extremism.
The UN security council has unanimously condemned the Junta multiple times over the past few years[1], and let me tell you, those guys doing anything unanimously since February of 2022 doesn't happen very often. Sometimes bad things are bad.
No, I actually do consider ISIS and the PDF to be distinct, in both goals and methods. If you cannot figure out why, then I have no desire to explain it to you.
> I know superficially why you think that: PDF are Good Guys killing Bad Guys, and ISIS are Bad Guys killing Good Guys.
Like I said, I feel no obligation to explain myself to someone who frames their questions in such an obviously bad faith way. But it does make me want to ask you a question - if you view people killing other people as all the same, do you see no distinction between ISIS suicide bombers indiscriminately killing civilians, and Russian airstrikes killing ISIS militants? If you can see a difference, then maybe you can figure out on your own why I view some armed combatants differently from others.
I'm still not convinced that you can explain your position beyond what I asserted.
My position is simple: both ISIS and PDF are violent, reactionary rebel gangs with delusions of grandeur but no real strategy for improving the lives of the people. Evidently, both are partly orchestrated/supported by foreign states. They exist solely to cause chaos in regions faraway from their sponsors.
For example, note that ISIS happens to ignore Western partner countries like Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, while focusing on Western enemy states. Note that the US Government openly assassinated Iranian General Soleimani, who's claim to fame was defeating ISIS. Note that US state media aired a puff piece of ISIS/AQ affiliate al-Jolani ("The Jihadist"), attempting to drum up public support for the new face of "ISIS". And so on and so forth.
Of course ISIS is illegal, so no games promoting it would be allowed in the US. What do you think a game promoting Dalai Lama would fare in China?
OTOH China’s soft power tools such as TikTok or Geishin Impact are widely accessible in the US. Hey China like the latter so much they placed it on the list of key cultural exports.
Dissident media, even involving hate speech, is still a far cry from media that is explicitly developed to radicalize and teach battlefield tactics / how to kill. Ask any federal agent who's job is to monitor this exact sort of activity.
You say "promote Dalai Lama" but an accurate analog would be a game about violently sabotaging police stations in China. Still think that's normal?
> Geishin Impact
Genshin Impact is Chinese propaganda? Can you elaborate?
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 60.1 ms ] threadIt's been strange/scary to see weapons of war running the same open-source software as flying toys that I've played with myself (the Betaflight HUD is clearly visible in some of the footage from Ukrainian drones). I guess there's always been a concern that somebody would weaponise a consumer/hobbyist drone, but that concern has been more about the potential for terrorism rather than their use in a major war.
But raises the question - if you make money on a platform, can you be deplatformed for what you do with the money rather than the content on the platform? If I make money from a clean farming game, but use it fund something bad, should the farming game be removed from the App Store?
Yet another link for the "our freedom fighters, their terrorists" collection.
The UN security council has unanimously condemned the Junta multiple times over the past few years[1], and let me tell you, those guys doing anything unanimously since February of 2022 doesn't happen very often. Sometimes bad things are bad.
[0]https://iimm.un.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/G2312500-1.pd...
[1]https://press.un.org/en/2022/sc14986.doc.htm
That is, you can act like a terrorist, but as long as your victims are passably "enemies", you are in the clear.
I invite you to expand on that -- if you can. How do you determine whether a killer is Good or Bad?
Like I said, I feel no obligation to explain myself to someone who frames their questions in such an obviously bad faith way. But it does make me want to ask you a question - if you view people killing other people as all the same, do you see no distinction between ISIS suicide bombers indiscriminately killing civilians, and Russian airstrikes killing ISIS militants? If you can see a difference, then maybe you can figure out on your own why I view some armed combatants differently from others.
My position is simple: both ISIS and PDF are violent, reactionary rebel gangs with delusions of grandeur but no real strategy for improving the lives of the people. Evidently, both are partly orchestrated/supported by foreign states. They exist solely to cause chaos in regions faraway from their sponsors.
For example, note that ISIS happens to ignore Western partner countries like Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, while focusing on Western enemy states. Note that the US Government openly assassinated Iranian General Soleimani, who's claim to fame was defeating ISIS. Note that US state media aired a puff piece of ISIS/AQ affiliate al-Jolani ("The Jihadist"), attempting to drum up public support for the new face of "ISIS". And so on and so forth.
OTOH China’s soft power tools such as TikTok or Geishin Impact are widely accessible in the US. Hey China like the latter so much they placed it on the list of key cultural exports.
You say "promote Dalai Lama" but an accurate analog would be a game about violently sabotaging police stations in China. Still think that's normal?
> Geishin Impact
Genshin Impact is Chinese propaganda? Can you elaborate?