5 ms·

What is GAB?

garyfirestorm 9y ago
Facebook for Nazis. Because free speech? Edit: i don't support people who pass hate as free speech. Which makes me wonder how to eliminate hate.
- cable2600 9y ago
  You have to teach the kids in school critical thinking instead of teaching them to think with their feelings. Then they learn to eliminate bias in their thinking so they don't become racists, bigots, and homophobes.
  - jasonmp85 9y ago
    Thanks for the laugh. This was great! I haven't seen naive technocrats so well-parodied in quite so time.
- jshevek 9y ago
  To reduce hate, maybe we shouldn't be so casual in demonizing others. In response to: " Facebook for Nazis. Because free speech? Edit: i don't support people who pass hate as free speech. Which makes me wonder how to eliminate hate. "
- stabatmater 9y ago
  I might be more inclined to agree with the pro-censorship ideas you are promoting if you didn't use such ill-defined and nonsensical terminology as "hate speech". Because what does that term even define? If I write about hating Nazis, hating some guy that raped me, and so on, should I not be allowed to do that? Heck, even hating pollution or hating bananas would be included in a general ban on "hate speech". Now of course I have some idea about the kind of speech you actually want to prohibit, so why on earth are you being so non-descript? What I suppose you want to censor is the advocacy of ethnonationalism, right? Just say it then! "I do not want people to promote these ideas because they are hostile to my own set of beliefs, so I propose that we censor such speech". That could actually be put into sensible laws whereas a ban on "hate speech" in general has enormous potential for arbitrary rulings and general confusion.
- throwaway7312 9y ago
  You can't. If you consider anyone's speech "hate speech", you are totally unequipped to eliminate negative emotions in other humans. "Hate speech" automatically presumes irrationality on the part of the other party. This is the first step on the road to war; painting your adversary as The Other. Regardless whom you're talking about, whether it's Black Lives Matter, Nazis, Antifa, Islamists, Salafists, or anyone. The moment you say, "That person's positions are hate speech," you have just announced dialogue between you and him are impossible. How can you dialogue with hate? You're not going to label this person "hateful" and have that convince him he's got it all wrong and he needs to come over to your way of seeing things. Nor are you going to pick his brain and understand him better. And if you try to censor him he will become more certain of the righteousness of his cause. He will fight harder, with more ferocity, and others will come to see him as the underdog fighting against the system. The only thing calling something "hate speech" does is to announce "I am not willing to talk to you." And when you aren't willing to talk to someone, yet set yourself firmly against him, there is only one option left on the table: one party must totally subdue the other. Every time I hear the phrase "hate speech", I hear someone who bangs the drums for war.
jshevek 9y ago
From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gab_(social_network) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gab_(social_network) Gab is an Austin, Texas-based[1] social networking service that allows its users, called "Gabbers," to read and write short messages of up to 300 characters called "gabs". The site also offers limited multimedia functionality. Gab describes its mission as "to put people and free speech first" by limiting censorship to filtering options made available to Gabbers.[5]
- Powerofmene 9y ago
  So it is a SN where haters can openly spew hate.
- fenomas 9y ago
  What an odd service offering - it sounds very much like "Twitter except we don't ban anyone". If that's the main differentiator, wouldn't one expect all their early adopters to be people who are either banned from twitter or want to follow people banned from twitter?
  - jshevek 9y ago
    I don't like the idea that so much of our communication is under the centralized control of social network sites like Twitter and Facebook. I would prefer if the gab enthusiasts had adopted gnu social, but as things are I am glad that SN sites are being made which are committed to the moral principle of free speech. It's possible that gab's early adopters include people who value free speech as a principle.
  - Zarath 9y ago
    That's a pretty big market.

What is GAB?

Facebook for Nazis. Because free speech? Edit: i don't support people who pass hate as free speech. Which makes me wonder how to eliminate hate.

cable2600 9y ago
You have to teach the kids in school critical thinking instead of teaching them to think with their feelings. Then they learn to eliminate bias in their thinking so they don't become racists, bigots, and homophobes.
- jasonmp85 9y ago
  Thanks for the laugh. This was great! I haven't seen naive technocrats so well-parodied in quite so time.
jshevek 9y ago
To reduce hate, maybe we shouldn't be so casual in demonizing others. In response to: " Facebook for Nazis. Because free speech? Edit: i don't support people who pass hate as free speech. Which makes me wonder how to eliminate hate. "
stabatmater 9y ago
I might be more inclined to agree with the pro-censorship ideas you are promoting if you didn't use such ill-defined and nonsensical terminology as "hate speech". Because what does that term even define? If I write about hating Nazis, hating some guy that raped me, and so on, should I not be allowed to do that? Heck, even hating pollution or hating bananas would be included in a general ban on "hate speech". Now of course I have some idea about the kind of speech you actually want to prohibit, so why on earth are you being so non-descript? What I suppose you want to censor is the advocacy of ethnonationalism, right? Just say it then! "I do not want people to promote these ideas because they are hostile to my own set of beliefs, so I propose that we censor such speech". That could actually be put into sensible laws whereas a ban on "hate speech" in general has enormous potential for arbitrary rulings and general confusion.
throwaway7312 9y ago
You can't. If you consider anyone's speech "hate speech", you are totally unequipped to eliminate negative emotions in other humans. "Hate speech" automatically presumes irrationality on the part of the other party. This is the first step on the road to war; painting your adversary as The Other. Regardless whom you're talking about, whether it's Black Lives Matter, Nazis, Antifa, Islamists, Salafists, or anyone. The moment you say, "That person's positions are hate speech," you have just announced dialogue between you and him are impossible. How can you dialogue with hate? You're not going to label this person "hateful" and have that convince him he's got it all wrong and he needs to come over to your way of seeing things. Nor are you going to pick his brain and understand him better. And if you try to censor him he will become more certain of the righteousness of his cause. He will fight harder, with more ferocity, and others will come to see him as the underdog fighting against the system. The only thing calling something "hate speech" does is to announce "I am not willing to talk to you." And when you aren't willing to talk to someone, yet set yourself firmly against him, there is only one option left on the table: one party must totally subdue the other. Every time I hear the phrase "hate speech", I hear someone who bangs the drums for war.

jshevek 9y ago

From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gab_(social_network) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gab_(social_network) Gab is an Austin, Texas-based[1] social networking service that allows its users, called "Gabbers," to read and write short messages of up to 300 characters called "gabs". The site also offers limited multimedia functionality. Gab describes its mission as "to put people and free speech first" by limiting censorship to filtering options made available to Gabbers.[5]

Powerofmene 9y ago
So it is a SN where haters can openly spew hate.
fenomas 9y ago
What an odd service offering - it sounds very much like "Twitter except we don't ban anyone". If that's the main differentiator, wouldn't one expect all their early adopters to be people who are either banned from twitter or want to follow people banned from twitter?
- jshevek 9y ago
  I don't like the idea that so much of our communication is under the centralized control of social network sites like Twitter and Facebook. I would prefer if the gab enthusiasts had adopted gnu social, but as things are I am glad that SN sites are being made which are committed to the moral principle of free speech. It's possible that gab's early adopters include people who value free speech as a principle.
- Zarath 9y ago
  That's a pretty big market.