October 12, 2019
Answering Readers Questions: Reactionism
In the comments to an earlier post someone ( I think it was Borchardt?) asked the following question...
Well, after several hours over a couple of days I find myself devoid of any hyperlinkable citations aside from this one, linked in an old post.
This is vexing, as I KNOW they exist, or existed because I've personally read them. They were "a thing" about 12-18 months ago.
Anyway...
Essentially, "reactionism" is a word that exists in the English language but is scarcely used. It shows up in the Terms Of Service for companies that have recently been bought by or received large investments from Chinese companies.
Generally a reactionism clause will appear in the following context:
' word salad of things that one should not engage in' any publication, information or document with content of reactionism.
As I understand it (or did before the articles, posts, and tweets I read a year or so ago went away)when one sees those boldfaced words, one is screwed! One had best get very big padded snow shoes because from that point on one is walking on very thin ice.
Because the word can mean "conservatism or rightism" it's a odd choice for a legal document, but it is perfectly at home in a Communist Diktat outlawing anything that might be perceived as 'counterrevolutionary'.
These particular TOSs encumbered with this peculiar word (which seems to have come into existence around 2008 ) seemed to have been a big deal in the tech industry about 18 months ago as there was a surfeit of these TOS changes especially in development circles. Reactionism is the word that stood out, but the troubling bit here is what it generally foreshadows...a very restrictive Terms Of Service document that has broad guidelines for off-platform behavior, or speech that can be considered reactionism.
Similar TOS issues started cropping up the same time involving any faux-pas involving the constantly changing minefield that is the ever shrinking verbiage allowed by social justice culture. In the SJW case the correlation with Chinese investment is not 1:1 but it does seem to exist. Note that one of the definitions is "the condition of being reactionary or resistant to change" which serves the purposes of the SJW crowd in a sublime fashion.
Regardless, the clauses are a strong indicator of Chinese influence and tend to be both broad and nonspecific, ensnaring any employee (and increasingly customers) in something akin to a morality clause for a Hollywood actress during the early Hayes Code.
It was one of these clauses that was cited by Blizzard in the recent unpleasantness and they are used with merciless effect to coerce and hurt people who don't tow the party line, many of whom who do not enjoy the limelight. Additionally the problem with terms of service from a legal standpoint is that one has agreed to them.
This is a big issue and has been coming to a head for several years. However, because it's buried LITERALLY in the walls of text that constitute Terms of Service it isn't covered much, and it seems to be covered less now than it was 18 months ago.
I may update this post considerably when and if I find the articles and discussions in question.
In the meantime: regarding the related and more visible issue of companies doing the Kow-Tow, here is a very non-comprehensive list shamelessly nicked from an as-of-now continuously updated document at Github.
"Reactionism Clauses"? first I've heard the term. What's that?
Well, after several hours over a couple of days I find myself devoid of any hyperlinkable citations aside from this one, linked in an old post.
This is vexing, as I KNOW they exist, or existed because I've personally read them. They were "a thing" about 12-18 months ago.
Anyway...
Essentially, "reactionism" is a word that exists in the English language but is scarcely used. It shows up in the Terms Of Service for companies that have recently been bought by or received large investments from Chinese companies.
Generally a reactionism clause will appear in the following context:
' word salad of things that one should not engage in' any publication, information or document with content of reactionism.
As I understand it (or did before the articles, posts, and tweets I read a year or so ago went away)when one sees those boldfaced words, one is screwed! One had best get very big padded snow shoes because from that point on one is walking on very thin ice.
Because the word can mean "conservatism or rightism" it's a odd choice for a legal document, but it is perfectly at home in a Communist Diktat outlawing anything that might be perceived as 'counterrevolutionary'.
These particular TOSs encumbered with this peculiar word (which seems to have come into existence around 2008 ) seemed to have been a big deal in the tech industry about 18 months ago as there was a surfeit of these TOS changes especially in development circles. Reactionism is the word that stood out, but the troubling bit here is what it generally foreshadows...a very restrictive Terms Of Service document that has broad guidelines for off-platform behavior, or speech that can be considered reactionism.
Similar TOS issues started cropping up the same time involving any faux-pas involving the constantly changing minefield that is the ever shrinking verbiage allowed by social justice culture. In the SJW case the correlation with Chinese investment is not 1:1 but it does seem to exist. Note that one of the definitions is "the condition of being reactionary or resistant to change" which serves the purposes of the SJW crowd in a sublime fashion.
Regardless, the clauses are a strong indicator of Chinese influence and tend to be both broad and nonspecific, ensnaring any employee (and increasingly customers) in something akin to a morality clause for a Hollywood actress during the early Hayes Code.
It was one of these clauses that was cited by Blizzard in the recent unpleasantness and they are used with merciless effect to coerce and hurt people who don't tow the party line, many of whom who do not enjoy the limelight. Additionally the problem with terms of service from a legal standpoint is that one has agreed to them.
This is a big issue and has been coming to a head for several years. However, because it's buried LITERALLY in the walls of text that constitute Terms of Service it isn't covered much, and it seems to be covered less now than it was 18 months ago.
I may update this post considerably when and if I find the articles and discussions in question.
In the meantime: regarding the related and more visible issue of companies doing the Kow-Tow, here is a very non-comprehensive list shamelessly nicked from an as-of-now continuously updated document at Github.
| Blizzard Entertainment | 2019-10-05 | 2019-10-08 | Banned a player who voiced support for the HK protests, rescinded his prize money and fired the 2 casters that were with him on air | |
| Apple | 2019-10-03 | 2019-10-08 | Removed HK police tracking app from the HK app store after pressure from the CCP; Removed Taiwan flag emoji in Hong Kong | |
| NBA | 2019-10-04 | 2019-10-08 | After Daryl Morey, manager of the Houston Rockets, published a tweet supportive of the HK protests, NBA issued an apology, calling the tweet "inappropriate". NBA Commissioner Adam Silver later contradicted this stance and said "We are not apologizing for Daryl exercising his freedom of expression" | |
| Marriott | 2018-01-12 | 2019-10-08 | Fired an employee after he "liked" an online post about Tibet; De-listed Taiwan as a nation, listed it instead as part of China after Chinese pressure; Released a statement reading "Marriott International respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China. We don’t support separatist groups that subvert the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China" | |
| Vans | 2019-10-05 | 2019-10-08 | Removed contest submission depicting the protests in Hong Kong | |
| Gap Inc. | 2018-05-14 | 2019-10-08 | Apologized after a T-Shirt depicting China without Taiwan was sold at a store in Canada, issuing the statement "Gap Inc. respects China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We've learned that a Gap brand T-shirt sold in some overseas markets failed to reflect the correct map of China in the design" | |
| Tiffany and Co | 2019-10-07 | 2019-10-08 | Removed tweet showing model covering her right eye (angry Chinese netizens believed it to be a reference to the woman who lost her eye after being hit by a police projectile) | |
| Nike | 2019-10-09 | 2019-10-09 | Removed all Houston Rockets merch from their China stores (web and physical) | |
| ESPN | 2019-10-08 | 2019-10-09 | Chuck Salituro, the senior news director of ESPN, sent a memo to shows mandating that any discussion of the Daryl Morey story avoid any political discussions about China and Hong Kong; ESPN displayed a Chinese map complete with 9 dash line, Taiwan, and also Arunachal Pradesh, which is a part of India that China claims is part of China | |
| Viacom / Paramount | 2019-07-18 | 2019-10-09 | Removed Taiwan flag from Maverick's jacket | |
| Disney / Marvel | 2016-11-04 | 2019-10-09 | Censored Tibetan monk from "Doctor Strange" and turned him into a white woman: the "Ancient One" was Tibetan in the comics, but white in the film. Statement from C. Robert Cargill, screenwriter: "If you acknowledge that Tibet is a place and that he’s Tibetan, you risk alienating one billion people who think that that’s bullshit" | |
| Cathay Pacific | 2019-08-09 | 2019-10-09 | Fired staff members who expressed support for the HK protests | |
| Mercedes | 2018-02-06 | 2019-10-09 | Apologised to China after quoting the Dalai Lama in an Instagram post, also deleting the post | |
| Delta Airlines | N/A | 2019-10-09 | De-listed Taiwan as a country on their website, instead listing it as part of China | |
| American Airlines | N/A | 2019-10-09 | De-listed Taiwan as a country on their website | |
| United Airlines | N/A | 2019-10-09 | De-listed Taiwan as a country on their website | |
| Qantas | N/A | 2019-10-09 | De-listed Taiwan as a country on their website, instead listing it as a province of China | |
| Air France | N/A | 2019-10-09 | De-listed Taiwan as a country on their website, instead listing it as a province of China | |
| Lufthansa | N/A | 2019-10-09 | De-listed Taiwan as a country on their website, instead listing it as a province of China | |
| Air Canada | N/A | 2019-10-09 | De-listed Taiwan as a country on their website, instead listing it as a province of China | |
| British Airways | N/A | 2019-10-09 | De-listed Taiwan as a country on their website, instead listing it as a province of China | |
| Malaysia Airlines | N/A | 2019-10-09 | De-listed Taiwan as a country on their website, instead listing it as a province of China | |
| Audi | N/A | 2019-10-09 | Apologised after using a map of China that didn't include Taiwan | |
| Muji | N/A | 2019-10-09 | Apologised after featuring a map of China in a store catalog that didn't include the Senkaku islands, destroyed the catalogs | |
| Zara | N/A | 2019-10-09 | Apologised for listing Taiwan as a country on their website | |
| Ray-Ban | N/A | 2019-10-09 | De-listed Taiwan as a country on their website | |
| Sheraton Hotels and Resorts | N/A | 2019-10-09 | Barred a Taiwan National Day reception from taking place at their Stockholm hotel, at the request of the Chinese ambassador | |
| Rockhampton Council, Queensland, Australia | N/A | 2019-10-09 | Removed Taiwan flags from public artwork | |
| Global Blue | N/A | 2019-10-09 | Fired a member of staff for calling Taiwan a country | |
| Lancome (L'Oreal) | N/A | 2019-10-09 | Canceled Denise Ho concert after Denise Ho expressed support for 2014 Hong Kong protests | |
| Givenchy | N/A | 2019-10-10 | Apologized for identifying Hong Kong and Taiwan as an independent country on their T-Shirts. | |
| Coach | N/A | 2019-10-10 | Apologized for identifying Hong Kong and Taiwan as an independent country on their T-Shirts. | |
| Versace | N/A | 2019-10-10 | Apologized for identifying Hong Kong and Taiwan as an independent country on their T-Shirts. | |
| JYP Entertainment | 2016-01-16 | 2019-10-11 | Forced Taiwanese kpop idol Chou Tzu-yu to release an apology video after she was seen waving a Taiwan flag | |
| Tiktok | 2019-09 | 2019-10-11 | Instructed moderators to censor videos that would upset Beijing |
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
07:57 PM
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