> Christian Christensen, Professor of Journalism in Stockholm, argues that the accusation of whataboutism is itself a form of the tu quoque fallacy, as it dismisses criticisms of one's own behavior to focus instead on the actions of another, thus creating a double standard. Those who use whataboutism are not necessarily engaging in an empty or cynical deflection of responsibility: whataboutism can be a useful tool to expose contradictions, double standards, and hypocrisy
> Others have criticized the usage of accusations of whataboutism by American news outlets, arguing that accusations of whataboutism have been used to simply deflect criticisms of human rights abuses perpetrated by the United States or its allies. They argue that the usage of the term almost exclusively by American outlets is a double standard, and that moral accusations made by powerful countries are merely a pretext to punish their geopolitical rivals in the face of their own wrongdoing
I am trying my best to avoid it though I have my axe to grind. But it's hard because it all strikes me at least as preposterous: all these terrible news about China started to come out just when it suddenly turned from "super dynamic developing country we can make tons of money with" to "serious competitor to our economic and technological supremacy". And my personal axe tells me that when it's about friends, it's all fine anyway.
For the specific case, I know very little about what's happening to the Uighurs, though I tend to think that China doesn't practice tolerance and the Uighurs don't practice integration. I am afraid of moral outrage though, especially when it seems to affect majorities: it can become very dangerous.
I don't think that the mods deny the astroturfing happening. They're actively looking out for and removing it. I think it's more that they don't want arguments to become polluted with accusations of astroturfing against specific users.
> I don't think that the mods deny the astroturfing happening. They're actively looking out for and removing it.
What I've understood from comments from dang so far is that it's mostly allegations based on feelings of disbelief ("no sane person could ever believe that, this user must be a paid shill") and when they look at it there's nothing to see. It doesn't seem to be an actual issue, more of a moral panic and a blunt instrument to silent dissent.
"And you are lynching Negroes" (Russian: "А у вас негров линчуют", A u vas negrov linchuyut) and the later "And you are hanging blacks" are catchphrases that describe or satirize Soviet propaganda's response to American criticisms of its human rights violations.
