4 ms·
It's not censorship, it's curation. There is a distinct difference. Here's what I had to say about this a few years back when (ironically) Reddit first starte
by jasonkester 10y ago
It's not censorship, it's curation. There is a distinct difference.
Here's what I had to say about this a few years back when (ironically) Reddit first started having to deal with this:
[1] People tend to think of online communities as democracies where the freedoms they're accustomed to from their normal lives apply.
So when a post gets deleted by a moderator, people tend to think of it as a freedom of speech issue. There's a whole constitution out there specifically defending anybody's right to create a pro-Nazi subreddit, and to otherwise post anything they please on the site so long as it's not illegal, right?
Not really.
Not at all, in fact. Reddit is not the United States. It's Reddit. Online communities are not democracies any more than your back garden is a democracy. You pull weeds, plant seeds, and otherwise encourage the plants in your garden to comport themselves in a manner that ends up with a pleasing result. It's your garden, so you have the absolute right to pull weeds. The weeds get no say.
Reddit seems to have forgotten this for a while, and as a result they started sliding until they became, well, Reddit. The community we're currently discussing this in, on the other hand, has been a lot more conscientious in cultivating the type of garden it would like to see. And I think we can all say the result is a lot more pleasant than a less tended place such as Reddit or 4chan.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3586667 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3586667
- jacquesm 10y ago> Reddit is not the United States. I'd substitute 'the world' for 'The United States'. Both Reddit and HN have an audience that transcends the borders of any one country, including the USA.
- titanomachy 10y agoThe United States is given as a particular example of a country that has strong freedom-of-speech rights. "The world" includes many countries that don't.
- infinite8s 10y agoIn addition, people often forget that the United States Constitution only prohibits what the Federal Government can do - it says nothing about private entities prohibiting speech.
- Xunxi 10y agoIt's quite disingenuous how commentaries like yours bundle 4chan and reddit as a "virtual cesspit" of some sorts. The variegated setup of these communities makes such a comparison sound willfully stupid. There are lots of communities within reddit and 4chan that are equally moderated and tended with curated posts and contributions and I'll be surprised you're not aware of this. HN on the other hand is a one size fit all! Instead of pointing the finger in the other direction why don't you focus on the question OP asked?