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Twitter has banned over 350,000 ISIS accounts in the last year or two, and that's happened without Hacker News noticing, as far as I can tell. There's not any

Twitter has banned over 350,000 ISIS accounts in the last year or two, and that's happened without Hacker News noticing, as far as I can tell. There's not any stories about it that come up in HN search with as many points as this has now. How is this situation different?

rodgerd 9y ago
A loud group of HN users are, apparently, very very sympathetic to the wellbeing of violent racists.
- jquery 9y ago
  I haven't seen any sympathy for Antifa on HN.
  - kstrauser 9y ago
    In your opinion, are Antifa racists?
    - jquery 9y ago
      It depends on whether you believe racism is power + prejudice or just prejudice. Since I subscribe to the latter, yes.
      - kstrauser 9y ago
        Who is Antifa prejudiced against? I'm white but I've never felt like they were any danger to me whatsoever.
        heeen2 9y ago
        One could argue that if you have nice things (e.g. nice car, upscale shop windows) certain groups that are assumed under the antifa umbrella would not hesitate to set fire to your car as a protest against capitalism and the power gradients it strengthens. Examplary incidents are G20 protests in Germany.
        KozmoNau7 9y ago
        Assumed by who to be under the Antifa umbrella? It's not like Antifa is a structured group with a command structure. They are by definition anarchists.
        JCharante 9y ago
        > Who is Antifa prejudiced against? It seems like Antifa is prejudiced against people with a lighter skin tone. > I'm white but I've never felt like they were any danger to me whatsoever. Because Antifa is a bunch of civilians.
        KozmoNau7 9y ago
        Antifa is prejudiced against fascists, and for good reason.
        jquery 9y ago
        Yeah, that's the travel brochure. From observing them where I live in San Francisco they seem to be violent against anybody right of center and free speech advocates (who may not be right of center). They are also prejudiced against whites in the same way anti-semites are prejudiced against Jews, just swap Jews for white people in their narrative.
        KozmoNau7 9y ago
        You should probably check your biases. (The vast majority of antifa are white, btw)
        jquery 9y ago
        I know Antifa is mostly white. That doesn't change anything in my view, because prejudice based on skin color is racism, no matter the color of the person holding that prejudice.
        KozmoNau7 9y ago
        Ah, so you're simply projecting your own prejudices.
  - KozmoNau7 9y ago
    "But but but Antifa are the real facists/racists" Give me a break.
    - jquery 9y ago
      Antifa and Neo-nazis are both a scourge on our body politic. But since pretty much everyone I know agrees about the neo-nazis and their ilk, I feel a much greater urgency to call out Antifa and its ilk.
      - KozmoNau7 9y ago
        Your cognitive dissonance is simply astounding.
        jquery 9y ago
        Huh? It's "astounding" to dislike groups that riot and attack people/property in the pursuit of political aims I disagree with? Is this some George W. Bush "you're either with us or against us" BS?
        KozmoNau7 9y ago
        So you hate a small group of people with a tendency to riot (black bloc), and you project that hate onto all anti-fascists, because you think that makes them just as bad as actual fascists.
Grue3 9y ago
I'll tell you why. Nobody who isn't an ISIS member has ever been called an ISIS member. However the favorite tactic of American left lately has been calling anyone who they disagree with a Nazi. For example most people are probably politically to the right to the likes of Anthony Fantano or Laci Green. And yet both of them have been unironically branded Nazis, as a quick Twitter search will confirm. So yeah, if you haven't been already, somebody's probably going to brand you a Nazi at some point and call for your banning from every social platform, no matter how "woke" you think you are. It's just a fact of life.
- thraxil 9y ago
  > I'll tell you why. Nobody who isn't an ISIS member has ever been called an ISIS member. I do seem to recall a certain presidential candidate calling Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama founders of ISIS... Painting all Muslim or even brown people as ISIS or terrorists is a pretty common rhetorical tactic of the right.
  - breakingcups 9y ago
    I still can't fathom the gravity of your first sentence. What it seems to imply about the majority of voting Americans and humanity in general. What a mess.
  - slededit 9y ago
    > I do seem to recall a certain presidential candidate calling Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama founders of ISIS... The clear and obvious intent of that sentence was to imply their policies allowed ISIS to exist, and that they would not exist had the power vacuum not been created. This new literal reading of everything is just another part of the decline of our political discourse.
    - thraxil 9y ago
      When Hugh Hewitt suggested that Trump only meant it that way, Trump objected: "No, I meant he's the founder of ISIS," Trump said. "I do. He was the most valuable player. I give him the most valuable player award. I give her, too, by the way, Hillary Clinton." Trump then explicitly disagreed with that "clear and obvious intent" re a power vacuum: HH: I don’t. I think I would say they created, they lost the peace. They created the Libyan vacuum, they created the vacuum into which ISIS came, but they didn’t create ISIS. That’s what I would say. DT: Well, I disagree. http://www.hughhewitt.com/donald-trump-makes-return-visit/#more-31501 http://www.hughhewitt.com/donald-trump-makes-return-visit/#m...

rodgerd 9y ago

A loud group of HN users are, apparently, very very sympathetic to the wellbeing of violent racists.

jquery 9y ago
I haven't seen any sympathy for Antifa on HN.
- kstrauser 9y ago
  In your opinion, are Antifa racists?
  - jquery 9y ago
    It depends on whether you believe racism is power + prejudice or just prejudice. Since I subscribe to the latter, yes.
    - kstrauser 9y ago
      Who is Antifa prejudiced against? I'm white but I've never felt like they were any danger to me whatsoever.
      - heeen2 9y ago
        One could argue that if you have nice things (e.g. nice car, upscale shop windows) certain groups that are assumed under the antifa umbrella would not hesitate to set fire to your car as a protest against capitalism and the power gradients it strengthens. Examplary incidents are G20 protests in Germany.
        KozmoNau7 9y ago
        Assumed by who to be under the Antifa umbrella? It's not like Antifa is a structured group with a command structure. They are by definition anarchists.
      - JCharante 9y ago
        > Who is Antifa prejudiced against? It seems like Antifa is prejudiced against people with a lighter skin tone. > I'm white but I've never felt like they were any danger to me whatsoever. Because Antifa is a bunch of civilians.
        KozmoNau7 9y ago
        Antifa is prejudiced against fascists, and for good reason.
        jquery 9y ago
        Yeah, that's the travel brochure. From observing them where I live in San Francisco they seem to be violent against anybody right of center and free speech advocates (who may not be right of center). They are also prejudiced against whites in the same way anti-semites are prejudiced against Jews, just swap Jews for white people in their narrative.
        KozmoNau7 9y ago
        You should probably check your biases. (The vast majority of antifa are white, btw)
        jquery 9y ago
        I know Antifa is mostly white. That doesn't change anything in my view, because prejudice based on skin color is racism, no matter the color of the person holding that prejudice.
        KozmoNau7 9y ago
        Ah, so you're simply projecting your own prejudices.
- KozmoNau7 9y ago
  "But but but Antifa are the real facists/racists" Give me a break.
  - jquery 9y ago
    Antifa and Neo-nazis are both a scourge on our body politic. But since pretty much everyone I know agrees about the neo-nazis and their ilk, I feel a much greater urgency to call out Antifa and its ilk.
    - KozmoNau7 9y ago
      Your cognitive dissonance is simply astounding.
      - jquery 9y ago
        Huh? It's "astounding" to dislike groups that riot and attack people/property in the pursuit of political aims I disagree with? Is this some George W. Bush "you're either with us or against us" BS?
        KozmoNau7 9y ago
        So you hate a small group of people with a tendency to riot (black bloc), and you project that hate onto all anti-fascists, because you think that makes them just as bad as actual fascists.

Grue3 9y ago

I'll tell you why. Nobody who isn't an ISIS member has ever been called an ISIS member. However the favorite tactic of American left lately has been calling anyone who they disagree with a Nazi. For example most people are probably politically to the right to the likes of Anthony Fantano or Laci Green. And yet both of them have been unironically branded Nazis, as a quick Twitter search will confirm. So yeah, if you haven't been already, somebody's probably going to brand you a Nazi at some point and call for your banning from every social platform, no matter how "woke" you think you are. It's just a fact of life.

thraxil 9y ago
> I'll tell you why. Nobody who isn't an ISIS member has ever been called an ISIS member. I do seem to recall a certain presidential candidate calling Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama founders of ISIS... Painting all Muslim or even brown people as ISIS or terrorists is a pretty common rhetorical tactic of the right.
- breakingcups 9y ago
  I still can't fathom the gravity of your first sentence. What it seems to imply about the majority of voting Americans and humanity in general. What a mess.
- slededit 9y ago
  > I do seem to recall a certain presidential candidate calling Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama founders of ISIS... The clear and obvious intent of that sentence was to imply their policies allowed ISIS to exist, and that they would not exist had the power vacuum not been created. This new literal reading of everything is just another part of the decline of our political discourse.
  - thraxil 9y ago
    When Hugh Hewitt suggested that Trump only meant it that way, Trump objected: "No, I meant he's the founder of ISIS," Trump said. "I do. He was the most valuable player. I give him the most valuable player award. I give her, too, by the way, Hillary Clinton." Trump then explicitly disagreed with that "clear and obvious intent" re a power vacuum: HH: I don’t. I think I would say they created, they lost the peace. They created the Libyan vacuum, they created the vacuum into which ISIS came, but they didn’t create ISIS. That’s what I would say. DT: Well, I disagree. http://www.hughhewitt.com/donald-trump-makes-return-visit/#more-31501 http://www.hughhewitt.com/donald-trump-makes-return-visit/#m...