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I don't think that's the argument free speech advocates are making. The argument is that facebook/twitter as well as some of these other platforms cloudflare/a

I don't think that's the argument free speech advocates are making. The argument is that facebook/twitter as well as some of these other platforms cloudflare/app stores, etc are a form of speech & they have a somewhat debateable stronghold on facilitating speech. So, when they deny speech to a specific group of people, they're not just denying service, but denying speech. The argument is debateable, but that is why people are upset, not that they don't think companies can act however they like towards their customers.

Overtonwindow 9y ago
To add to that argument, GAB, StormFront, and other websites and services like it have been around a LONG time. Since the internet began. Yet we are only now seeing a reaction from those platforms that host such content. Why? What made Gab and Stormfront ok two weeks ago, but not ok now? That's the hypocrisy that needs greater focus.
- nl 9y ago
  With a name like "Overton Window" I suspect you are entirely aware why. To spell it out: the Overton window has moved to a point where people matching in the streets with Nazi flags yelling about killing Jews is not beyond the pale.
- GuiA 9y ago
  Well, the national news wasn't filled with pictures of people marching in the open streets with nazi flags 10 years ago, for starters.
  - flukus 9y ago
    It was though. The neo Nazi movement was a lot bigger in the 90s than it is now.
    - nl 9y ago
      Not in the US it wasn't. But there’s one huge difference: These newer offshoots have been far more successful than we could ever have dreamed. When you see crowds of hundreds marching through the streets with their faces uncovered, when white supremacist leader Richard Spencer holds a press conference a few days after a woman was killed by one of his fellow travelers and hosts reporters in his home, it becomes clear just how much more terrifying this new generation of extremists is. They’re savvier than we were. Better connected. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/18/former-neo-nazi-charlottesville-terrifies-me-215502 http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/18/former-neo...
      - flukus 9y ago
        Crowds of hundreds isn't a lot. Crowds of hundreds from all over the country is absolutely nothing, you'd get more Muslim extremists from a small fraction of the population. I hope you're as worried about Islamic extremists as you are about Nazi ones?
        nl 9y ago
        I hope you're as worried about Islamic extremists as you are about Nazi ones? Of course. I think all violent extremism is despicable.

Overtonwindow 9y ago

To add to that argument, GAB, StormFront, and other websites and services like it have been around a LONG time. Since the internet began. Yet we are only now seeing a reaction from those platforms that host such content. Why? What made Gab and Stormfront ok two weeks ago, but not ok now? That's the hypocrisy that needs greater focus.

nl 9y ago
With a name like "Overton Window" I suspect you are entirely aware why. To spell it out: the Overton window has moved to a point where people matching in the streets with Nazi flags yelling about killing Jews is not beyond the pale.
GuiA 9y ago
Well, the national news wasn't filled with pictures of people marching in the open streets with nazi flags 10 years ago, for starters.
- flukus 9y ago
  It was though. The neo Nazi movement was a lot bigger in the 90s than it is now.
  - nl 9y ago
    Not in the US it wasn't. But there’s one huge difference: These newer offshoots have been far more successful than we could ever have dreamed. When you see crowds of hundreds marching through the streets with their faces uncovered, when white supremacist leader Richard Spencer holds a press conference a few days after a woman was killed by one of his fellow travelers and hosts reporters in his home, it becomes clear just how much more terrifying this new generation of extremists is. They’re savvier than we were. Better connected. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/18/former-neo-nazi-charlottesville-terrifies-me-215502 http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/18/former-neo...
    - flukus 9y ago
      Crowds of hundreds isn't a lot. Crowds of hundreds from all over the country is absolutely nothing, you'd get more Muslim extremists from a small fraction of the population. I hope you're as worried about Islamic extremists as you are about Nazi ones?
      - nl 9y ago
        I hope you're as worried about Islamic extremists as you are about Nazi ones? Of course. I think all violent extremism is despicable.