Starlink U-turns, will block X in Brazil after all

Here it is how it looks like if you try to visit an account of a cult member and political rival of Erdogan from Turkey(the cult used to be ally of Erdogan, then turned against him. Now they publish sometimes credible and other times dubious corruption documents and allegations from exile): https://dropover.cloud/755d93

Also, Twitter has legal representation in Turkey and people are routinely detained, imprisoned or made pay fines for their tweets in Turkey. The country also ranked very poorly on any freedom or democracy index, political figures are routinely held in prison. Erdogan government often dismisses orders from the Turkish constitution court, if you think that Musk is into constitution - it doesn’t add up.

AFAIK Twitter is also blocked in China and Russia.

What is the fuss around Brazil? Why this is not just another day with business as usual?

Incredible that so many tech types are now cheering on the government blocking websites.

If platforms care about free expression they would not have a formal presence in authoritarian countries. The best way to protect your users is to operate exclusively within US jurisdiction and let subjugated peoples have accounts. Jurisdictional arbitrage works. So does tor.

This reinforces two lessons:

1. Companies are not your friends. This goes for any company;

2. Companies will always choose profit over everything else, including moral stances. Companies may make moral stances. These are temporary blips.

The second is really important because it debunks a lot of propaganda.

A common one is "we can't tax companies (or billionaires) because they'll leave". No they won't. There's really no evidence of this. Even if they do, you, as a government, can say "ok, you've lost access to our market". The US wields access to the US financial system quite effectively as a weapon both domestically and with foreign policy. Yet we continue to give mostly ineffective corporate subsidies.

Drug prices is another one. It often comes up that US customers pay 10-100x+ for the same drug you can get in Europe or Canada. Lots of excuses are given for this but the reality is that prices are so high because the government has been bought and importing drugs has been made illegal. Even things like Medicare negotiating prices with drug companies is (mostly) illegal.

But consider in terms of (2): would companies sell a drug in Canada for $50 when it costs $500 in the US if they were selling it at a loss? No, they wouldn't.

So Starlink is still for sale in Brazil because it's profitable and because following the law in Brazil (whether you agree with the law or not) is more profitable than opting out.

I mean, who really cares, at the end of the day, but let’s be real.

You can only play “fuck you I don’t have a legal entity in your country you can’t touch me” game…

…if you dont.

Now he’s gone and set a precedent for “how to bully musk into compliance”:

1) find something he owns that is actually making money.

2) blockade it.

Feels like that was a stupid game to play, with a predictable outcome, for no really good reason.

Musk finds obeying the law inconvenient? He's become a neo-monarchist in his old age.

money talks, bullshit walks, who is the "free speech" warrior now ?