Indeed. Most of this forum gets the side eye from me Over this shit.
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
[BBC] In China, Uighurs 'moved into factory forced labour' for foreign brands Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony
- Thread starter Deleted member 5028
- Start date
The biggest thing China has is they already set up technology and trained people over there. Moving all that stuff even to Viet Nam is 1, really fucking expensive. 2, The quality is not insured. 3, They want to have access to the China population and kowtow to their government.
Another thing is I really don't want them to bring even more factories to Viet Nam, especially tech factory, the amount of toxic waste these factories can pump out is horrifying.
What are things we can do? Raise awareness? I just can't see any major tech firm abandoning China.
Abandoning China is easy ("easy"). That won't stop China using slave labour though. And it won't stop, for example, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Taiwan or Vietnam to use slave labour either. But it's a big start since China are a major player in the tech sector that is outright clear with what they're doing, except the media looks the other way about it.
I guess it's hard to know what to do. You can't really pressure your government because all governments around the world are complicit in this*. And as a consumer, it feels like you don't really have a choice. Want a new PC? Good luck finding one with an ethical supply chain.
Things change when people are shown practical things they can do to enact that change.
*Heres a digression : I was in Sri Lanka recently (strongly recommend it. Lovely place) and I got off a train. The trains were built in the days of British colonialism.When I got off the train I drove down a new $1 billion highway built by a Chinese consortium. China is colonising the world economically. These things don't come free.
Things change when people are shown practical things they can do to enact that change.
*Heres a digression : I was in Sri Lanka recently (strongly recommend it. Lovely place) and I got off a train. The trains were built in the days of British colonialism.When I got off the train I drove down a new $1 billion highway built by a Chinese consortium. China is colonising the world economically. These things don't come free.
That's because everyone cares about stopping others suffering....until it effects their bottom line or their hobbies and wants. I made a topic about goodbye volcano high having the same writer who put images of CP on a kotaku article and the very first post quickly dismisses it. Peak humanity right there. When it comes push and shove, people will look after their own interests first. I see it here all the time sadly. I'll be honest, I too am guilty of this. I try, I do try, but sometimes i forget things. Hell, with all the shit going on this year i nearly forgot about this to the point that i got hyped over the ps5 event. I can do better, we all can.
Of course it is but so are many other issues around the world, such as slavery. BLM or whatever issues people gloss over it because they don't care unless they are involved themselves and in winch region they come from.
It serieously is just freaking sad.
Vietnam doesn't have slave labour camps but it's not a liberal democracy with the best labour and environmental standards ether. Vietnam is a one-party Communist state like China.
Another common suggestion, Malaysia, is a constitutional democracy with a Westminster style parliament but it is not as free as say Canada in regards to the press and religious freedom. Plus it has it's fair share of corruption.
So while they would be a leg up on China for ethical reasons they will still have issues.
India would be better, for at least it's a democracy with a free press/media. So citizens can make their voices heard. Still their labour and environmental standards are not as strong as they are in Europe and the Americas.
Really if you want an ethical console/PCs you need to have them manufactured in the West using Western labour. Even then the natural resources required for manufacturing would have to come from places like the Congo. So they'd still be tainted.
It really is one world economy. So until the world all agrees on international standards, oppression and mistreatment will always happen.
That has more or less been China's strategy in several African countries, too. I know there are several developmental projects being funded in Kenya. Usually, that means a Chinese manager supervising low-wage Kenyan workers, a reflection of the racism and discrimination also being imported.
Yes, my understanding is that they are effectively building up basic infrastructure Africa and certain areas of Asia and spreading good will and leverage in the process that will last for decades to come.
People dont care about non-western lives. It is infuriating. The least people could do is talk about it instead of ignoring it.
This thread has 15 pages but my thread about Demon's Souls having Casual Mode has almost FIFTY? Wtf?
We need to make more noise in here about this, hell keep bumping it if it needs be this is literal slavery and as working class westerners most of us can barely do anything about a problem of this scale in China in the first place, the least we could do is have the issue front and center.
We need to make more noise in here about this, hell keep bumping it if it needs be this is literal slavery and as working class westerners most of us can barely do anything about a problem of this scale in China in the first place, the least we could do is have the issue front and center.
AHAHAHA! Priorities, am I right?
Casual mode doesn't even impact normal players so they're just screaming like children.
Slavery impacts humanity.
Don't you dare touch my darn elite game, you hear me!
Lol. On a more serious note I'm drawing a blank as to how we can do something about this beyond boycotting products, which in itself seems impossible on a wider scale. Hell even Sony's terms of service regarding Slavery isn't enforced on all their divisions...insane.
This is precisely the issue with this topic. I don't know what we expect the average person to do beyond posting on Era and Twitter. The reality is, these companies only care about money and barring a boycott of all electrical products, they have no incentive on listening.
Realistically there's not much we can do. That's why it was so frustrating seeing respected journalists like Jason remain silent on the issue. We've had so many posts and threads praising his efforts and how it changed working environments for so many studios. They're the only ones with enough power to pressure these giants into talking :/
They can't even be bothered to retweet this shit.
Won't hear a peep out of any of those companies tho, they only peep when injustice happens in the anglosphere.
I am genuinely baffled by how few sites have covered this. I wrote something up for the relatively tiny website I work for back in March; you don't have to do much research to "back it up", the resources and reports from respected outlets and institutions are already there. At some point it's just about raising awareness, and they're kinda dropping the ball.
For what it's worth I think raising the issue regularly will make it hard for corporations to pull the "we're people too!" schtick. There's power in bad PR. There just has to be a lot of it for it to work.
For what it's worth I think raising the issue regularly will make it hard for corporations to pull the "we're people too!" schtick. There's power in bad PR. There just has to be a lot of it for it to work.
People, and gamers, just don't care. Quite a few folks in that thread wanted the leaker in jail and locked up - video games are serious! Microsoft and Sony using slave labor? They won't even make a comment. Just look at it, move on.
OP
OP
It's absolutely a game to those people. Fuck anyone who gets in the way of their entertainment.
Yeah it sucks. I am legit Willing to pay more if it means no slave labor. Idc how long it takes to scrounge up the funds, I'll wait if I have to, the games/system won't be going anywhere
I'd be down to sign a petition or whatever it is people here could muster up. We need to put pressure on these companies.
Unfortunately though I think we will just get a MW2 boycott 2.0 smh, where everyone grumbles and buys it anyway.
I'd be down to sign a petition or whatever it is people here could muster up. We need to put pressure on these companies.
Unfortunately though I think we will just get a MW2 boycott 2.0 smh, where everyone grumbles and buys it anyway.
Pretty much. Boycotting is difficult given how ingrained much of the tech side is to most people's lives. Doesn't mean you can't raise awareness. You'd want to know where your bananas came from, right? Why not your phone, or your PS5? At least people can speak up and disapprove of this practice.
Been trying to buy stuff as disconnected from China as possible. Most of the time the best you can do is not buy from any companies in the list or any companies based in China. Like 90% of stuff will be made in China.
For things to actually change, for these companies to stop exploiting human rights violations, slave labor of an oppressed group of people...you feel like it shouldn't take much, but know that it will.
Companies don't give a fuck unless it becomes a huge shitstorm and/or something they can exploit to increase revenue. And in this case people will also be less inclined to produce the required pressure to get a good shitstorm brewing, because it's something that would affect us. Everyone wants the lowest price, as long as we can ignore the cost. We shouldn't be able to ignore something like this.
For things to actually change, for these companies to stop exploiting human rights violations, slave labor of an oppressed group of people...you feel like it shouldn't take much, but know that it will.
Companies don't give a fuck unless it becomes a huge shitstorm and/or something they can exploit to increase revenue. And in this case people will also be less inclined to produce the required pressure to get a good shitstorm brewing, because it's something that would affect us. Everyone wants the lowest price, as long as we can ignore the cost. We shouldn't be able to ignore something like this.
Unfortunately, the public doesn't really care about this, which means the politicians do nothing as China is too powerful.
When the news released with several articles in Germany by one of the national publications, it barely got noticed.
The international community needs to do something about this.
When the news released with several articles in Germany by one of the national publications, it barely got noticed.
The international community needs to do something about this.
I feel it needs to be more targeted and less black and white. Like it's disgraceful this happens full stop. If it's every company though it's going to be hard to get people to change anything.
If companies could be graded for how bad they are in this regard it would enable consumers to make choices. Go with the companies who are making an honest effort to tackle the issue and have removed slave labour from 95% of their supply chain for example.
I don't know if this information exists and I just haven't seen it.
If companies could be graded for how bad they are in this regard it would enable consumers to make choices. Go with the companies who are making an honest effort to tackle the issue and have removed slave labour from 95% of their supply chain for example.
I don't know if this information exists and I just haven't seen it.
Not sure if serious.
Have you been following the news as of late?
It should. It's still infuriating that nothing and no one is reporting on this in the game's industry. But they'll all get into little twitter feuds between each other.
Not all boycotts are the same. It's perhaps hard to boycott unethical clothes manufacturing (especially if you are poor and can't pay 150€ for a single ethically/locally produced shirt/pair of shoes) or phones that are absolutely vital to this day & age. But a PS5 isn't necessary. It's a luxury product.
The funny thing is that Apple tried to make the trashcan Mac Pro in the US and they simply couldn't find the resources...supposedly
Ny times- A Tiny Screw Shows Why iPhones Won't Be 'Assembled in U.S.A.'
China's supply chain is just unmatched, they make everything here.
I mean, the issue isn't even China. AFAIK, there are factories/production facilities there that aren't run with slave labour and are at least attempting to have some kind of standards (IIRC, even many of the components of that ethical phone are still manufactured in China, but the company making them is trying to make sure that everything is done as ethically as possible, always looking ways to improve production pipelines where they aren't yet perfect etc.). Western companies & countries should just demand transparency & fulfilling some kind of minimum pay & maximum work hour standards that are fair for the region. EU, US & everywhere could cooperate. We should have the economic power to enforce some change for the better, if a Nazi clown wasn't at the White House & other smaller parties had more backbone.
What we can do is secretly support anti CCP group, us living in South East Asia mostly got bully by CCP but we can't do anything openly so we do it underground or just casually take any tiny chances to shit on them.
It's a long fight, but no empire can avoid downfall forever.
It's a long fight, but no empire can avoid downfall forever.
This thread was stickied for a whole month before, but it still barely gained any traction.
I imagine that if it's just a single company among the big 3 instead of all of them, this thread will be more active. That's just how gamers are.
So you're telling me that we would care about human rights abuses more if we could use it as fuel for console wars?
This... is kinda realistic, won't lie.
I know this is old but for auto manufacturers, this is definitely to serve the domestic Chinese market. Making cars in china avoids tariffs and keeps cost-competitive. Some factories may be making a few special parts here and there as well. Similar to how if you buy a BMW in North America it is more than likely made in the Carolinas.
I hope they are speaking up as having that stain on your automotive luxury brand is a hard pill to swallow given everything in the news.
I hope they are speaking up as having that stain on your automotive luxury brand is a hard pill to swallow given everything in the news.
Nothing has changed. China is still committing ethnic cleansing on a scale unheard of since the Holocaust and slavery on a scale unheard of since the African slave trade. Some countries (including the US) have issued toothless statements of condemnation, but no one wants to sacrifice profit/consumerism over mere crimes against humanity. Remember this when the question of how people tolerated evil throughout history is raised.
I dont have any expectations about China itself. They are what they are, no need to beat around the bush. But I want to find out if Sony, Nintendo or others are involved in this somehow. I swear if evidence emerges that Nintendo turned a blind eye to this Im going to protest in person in front of their headquarters.
Friendly reminder that Nintendo is moving some Switch production to Vietnam. I'm not sure if Sony or MS said anything on their part, but Nintendo is one comapny doing SOMETHING at least.
www.gamesindustry.biz
Nintendo moves some Switch production to Vietnam
Nintendo is moving some production of the Switch to Vietnam, to decrease its dependence on China for manufacturing.The …
www.gamesindustry.biz