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Comment by RobotToaster | Hacker News Reader

Not really, they either pulled out or got banned because they wouldn't remove content that broke Chinese law, any Chinese company who did the same would also be banned.

Tiktok hasn't broken any American laws that result in more than fine.

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No. 1. China's constitution protects free speech. Rendering many 'laws' unconstitutional. This may be too philosophical, so there is 2. Many 'laws' are intentionally vague so their application can be as arbitrary as possible: anything can 'disturb public order' or 'violate social morale'. Who's to decide? Of course it's the Party, not the law. 3. If you look carefully, even those catch-all regulations aren't there in many cases. Chen Yun, one of the Deng Xiaoping-era elders famously argued against making a News Law, saying "When the KMT was in power, we [the Communists] studied their news laws very carefully and exploited loopholes. Now that we're in power, it's better there is no law at all." In China, laws are "made strictly, violated widely, and enforced selectively." This is the real world Constitution.

>China's constitution protects free speech. Rendering many 'laws' unconstitutional.

China's constitution is interesting, as it grants both rights and obligations on citizens, such as the obligation to observe public order and respect social morality.

http://www.npc.gov.cn/englishnpc/constitution2019/201911/1f6...

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