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>This sounds true, but is actually incorrect. Whenever women speak out on social media, they get at the very least abuse, but also often rape threats and death

>This sounds true, but is actually incorrect. Whenever women speak out on social media, they get at the very least abuse, but also often rape threats and death threats against them. That is retaliation, plain and simple. Rape threats and death threats are illegal. They should be reported, investigated and prosecuted. (As an aside, I've seen many instances where women claim to have received rape or death threats, with no mention that they reported them to the authorities. I find that perplexing.) If by "abuse" you mean garden-variety insults and name-calling, well, that's been one of the left's go-to tactics for a long time. And women have certainly engaged in it plenty. I'm referring to waging public campaigns to have a person fired or otherwise professionally, personally or economically harmed. The left has done this many times to people who have dared express wrongthoughts publicly. And it has had a chilling effect against others who might harbor similar wrongthoughts and are thinking of expressing them publicly. So far, there's been no downside for the left for employing these tactics; only upside. That needs to be changed. They'll continue these bully tactics as long as they carry no risk. I want to see this change. I want to see leftists who gin up rage mobs find themselves facing one themselves, more often than not. I want to see companies who capitulate to the demands of leftist rage mobs get besieged by an even more vocal and organized rage mob from the right. In short, I don't like rage mob tactics, but the only way to fight against them effectively is with opposing rage mobs.

Shank 9y ago
> Rape threats and death threats are illegal. They should be reported, investigated and prosecuted. (As an aside, I've seen many instances where women claim to have received rape or death threats, with no mention that they reported them to the authorities. I find that perplexing.) True! They should be, but they frequently aren't because there's a significant amount of time, friction, and effort required to do an accurate police report. Even more importantly, the internet's ability to enable harassment through pseudo-anonymity is unparalleled. It's really easy to send a death threat to someone over Twitter with a burner phone. It's not easy to come to the police and say "hey, throwaway99475 on Twitter posted a picture of my house and said he was going to rape me." To quote yourself: > So far, there's been no downside [for] employing these tactics; only upside. That needs to be changed. They'll continue these bully tactics as long as they carry no risk.
- Chris2048 9y ago
  > time, friction, and effort required Is it important, or isn't it? I'm pretty sure you'd find the time to do something that would save your job, so shouldn't a rape threat be the same? > posted a picture of my house This would be taken seriously, but aren't the vast majority of rape threats.
schimmy_changa 9y ago
You original post suggests that, because there is not retaliation against people speaking in favor of diversity efforts, we should thus create one to balance it out. I have shown you that there is retaliation against people who speak out about diversity efforts. Thus you should retract your suggestion that we form a mob, because it is no longer necessary (among other reasons). When it comes to professionally, personally, or economically harmed, if you don't believe that this happens to women in tech on a regular basis, then you clearly have NOT been reading Hacker News, or ANY of the accounts from your fellow colleagues like Susan Fowler! I don't like rage mob tactics either, but you want to create a reactionary rage mob to fight the rage mob of the left created to fight the rage mob of the right. No more rage mobs, please.
Chris2048 9y ago
> rape threats and death threat Which any 14 year old with internet access can make, the seriousness of which depends entirely on your perspective. I note, "I'm gonna rape you" isn't taken as seriously when directed against a male, meaning there is a strong component of interpretation there. What do you think the probability (of an attempt) of any particular rape threat made online is? In the meanwhile, we are comparing this to the real outcome of someone being fired. It seems an apples and oranges comparison; Either we compare threats of rape, to threats of being fired - or actual instances of both. You can't balance real consequences with speculated ones.

Shank 9y ago

> Rape threats and death threats are illegal. They should be reported, investigated and prosecuted. (As an aside, I've seen many instances where women claim to have received rape or death threats, with no mention that they reported them to the authorities. I find that perplexing.) True! They should be, but they frequently aren't because there's a significant amount of time, friction, and effort required to do an accurate police report. Even more importantly, the internet's ability to enable harassment through pseudo-anonymity is unparalleled. It's really easy to send a death threat to someone over Twitter with a burner phone. It's not easy to come to the police and say "hey, throwaway99475 on Twitter posted a picture of my house and said he was going to rape me." To quote yourself: > So far, there's been no downside [for] employing these tactics; only upside. That needs to be changed. They'll continue these bully tactics as long as they carry no risk.

Chris2048 9y ago
> time, friction, and effort required Is it important, or isn't it? I'm pretty sure you'd find the time to do something that would save your job, so shouldn't a rape threat be the same? > posted a picture of my house This would be taken seriously, but aren't the vast majority of rape threats.

schimmy_changa 9y ago

You original post suggests that, because there is not retaliation against people speaking in favor of diversity efforts, we should thus create one to balance it out. I have shown you that there is retaliation against people who speak out about diversity efforts. Thus you should retract your suggestion that we form a mob, because it is no longer necessary (among other reasons). When it comes to professionally, personally, or economically harmed, if you don't believe that this happens to women in tech on a regular basis, then you clearly have NOT been reading Hacker News, or ANY of the accounts from your fellow colleagues like Susan Fowler! I don't like rage mob tactics either, but you want to create a reactionary rage mob to fight the rage mob of the left created to fight the rage mob of the right. No more rage mobs, please.

Chris2048 9y ago

> rape threats and death threat Which any 14 year old with internet access can make, the seriousness of which depends entirely on your perspective. I note, "I'm gonna rape you" isn't taken as seriously when directed against a male, meaning there is a strong component of interpretation there. What do you think the probability (of an attempt) of any particular rape threat made online is? In the meanwhile, we are comparing this to the real outcome of someone being fired. It seems an apples and oranges comparison; Either we compare threats of rape, to threats of being fired - or actual instances of both. You can't balance real consequences with speculated ones.