Doctoral candidates still have around 1% chance of success in my country. Academia is more often a way of expressing niche knowledge, and it represents a different can of worms. Things like grade inflation, ivy league nepotism aren’t even addressing the problematic areas of higher education. But anyway, the areas of specialization are too narrow to be broadly celebrated as leadership qualities. Given the unreformed state of islam, It is more than likely that religious bodies in Iran selected their negotiation team for their work ethic, since most of their government officers are easily distributed along similar religious and political lines. The PhDs in Iran’s team do not contribute to their own specialization because doctorate work requires ultimate devotion, unless they’re willing to fail and join the 99% of candidates.

I’m in agreement with this decision. But I don’t share the reasoning and context behind the conclusions regarding free speech. I’m non-europe, so the slogan “from the river to the sea” doesn’t strike me as an impression that calls for Hamas. I suppose german lawmakers often make contextual decisions centered around their own experiences. That explains their legal stance, and I don’t agree with it. I do agree with the decision to avoid the wrath of law enforcement agencies. As I understand it, i think it is reasonable enough since I’ve had members of my community vanishing without a trace until this day.

Throughout history, governments (WW2 and others) do commit atrocities and human rights violations. I think moderation teams allowing ample space for genocide documentation is good. As I understand it, other social medias such as Instagram don’t allow genocide documentation at all. Granted, I think more should be done about it even in smaller communities like this. But that’s besides the point, and I’m not an internet regular. And where real or digital spaces don’t outright endorse “absolute free speech”, I think spaces that allow specifics in their discourse is a good enough space to live in. After all, It is never ideal to let governments run fascist mode without accountability.

That is true. Interrogations do harm communities to a larger extent than I initially thought. I recall how my neighborhood had to stop everything (such as art, videos, embroidery, food) just so they could avoid police kidnappings. We had three post-doctoral candidates in our district arrested for insulting the sultan (and his religion) and although they were smart enough to hire defense counsel, their lawyers told us that their clients are “jailed without trial”.

The questioning (though harmless) is often a stepping stone to more drastic measures. In the place where I live (not the US), my local religious police does questioning to make sure that activists are not posting their status online. This sort of measure helps them evade accountability and keeps the general public in ignorance.

Muftis (and scholars) occupy a prominent position in Islam but their departments often sit within the state. They owe their existence to the state governments they’re in. Even if this decree carries weight among muslim communities where fatwas are often studied to their minute detail, respective muslim governments ultimately have the final say on whether they’re willing to adopt their decree. With leaders like MBS and others, I doubt there’s real appetite for change even if the fatwa in question is in line with traditional islamic laws.

True. That’s unfortunate, i feel that.

If the ban brings a new alternative in place, then yes. I’m not from the EU or the USA, but I’m used to Mastodon and Lemmy. I don’t mind non-american alternatives. The EU should have its own competitive social media for the rest of the world.