This case is inspired by the frequent element in mainland China service. Unlike Case 316: Political discussions or campaining are prohibited, the service does not prohibit or even encourage political discussions which promote government-approved value. (For example, the current Chinese Internet regulation states that the service should encourage “contents which promote the positive energy”)
Despite it may seem like spam, I post this for suggesting “weight: 100” instead for reason above and the following reason:
The case often override other all ToS case, including but not limited to anti-harassment cases and anti-discrimination cases.
It has created “taboos everywhere” environment and greatly shaped users’ behavior. (For example, they have to practice self-censorship and even threat overseas company to censor such content before the government’s action)
Also, it is never as same as https://edit.tosdr.org/cases/314 since the government-approved value may be extreme. (I have seen people say racial slurs and other slurs to attack anyone who criticized their government-approved value. Supporting or justifying massacre is also allowed to show as long as they are attacking government’s enemies) It is never as same as https://edit.tosdr.org/cases/283 for reasons above.
Finally, I hope that we are never dragged in the no-ending intolerance.
Also, this case doesn’t only apply to Services which governing law is in PRC, and in other countries it may have less impact. For instance, while reviewing Vimeo’s Terms (updated on december 2020; court of law in New York State, USA), I noticed a news-related restriction:
"You may not submit any content that: [...] Contains false or misleading claims about (1) vaccination safety, or (2) health-related information that has a serious potential to cause public harm"
Sicne health information is varying quickly, US Government/Vimeo meaning of “false” information or “public harm” may not always be accurate, and this may mean all discussions against the government advocated value related to health might be censored.
Given this ambiguous situation, I think applying this huge weight could unfairly hide other points importance and unfairly rate some Services.
I suggest a weight of 70 instead in order to avoid the impact of these issues.
I think it is a great suggestion since weight: 100 is too PRC-centered and does not apply worldwide, which is against my purpose and this website’s goal. But I don’t know how to change the weight.
I think if the case is added, the weight is better set as 70 as well as in censorship category because of Justin and Agnes’ reasons. Maybe I’ll propose more new cases to better including different cultures.