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Maybe it wouldn't be as big but I can assure you nothing gives a conspiracy theory more credence among it's followers than being deplatformed.

• Larrikin 8y ago
  This is what people said about Alex Jones and his network. When he was deplatformed there was a surge of downloads for his app from white supremacists trying to show support and people gave your exact argument that now he has been legitimized. But what actually happened were those numbers were inflated by his followers and without the echo chamber of the larger base he had on YouTube his numbers eventually plummeted. Instead of being a regular in the news he occupies a small corner of the internet without access to the larger impressionable ever refreshing base he once had. He has now resorted to trying to sneak videos back on to you tube.
  • ThrowawayR2 8y ago
    Now imagine what would've happened had YouTube existed in the '60s and the powers that be had deplatformed MLK for his "unpopular" views that were"radicalizing" other people? See the problem now? The sword cuts both ways and if the political climate shifts so that your views are out of favor, guess who's getting deplatformed then?
    • Larrikin 8y ago
      MLK was heavily persecuted in the sixties for his views and message by private and public entities. What point are you trying to make.
      • deleted 8y ago
        [deleted]
      • ThrowawayR2 8y ago
        > MLK was heavily persecuted in the sixties for his views and message by private and public entities. And people should be okay with his persecution by the people who had the political upper hand in that era? No? Then why should anyone be okay with deplatforming Alex Jones (as bad as he is) by whoever has the political upper hand at the moment?
        • harrumph 8y ago
          >And people should be okay with his persecution by the people who had the political upper hand in that era? No? Then why should anyone be okay with deplatforming Alex Jones (as bad as he is) by whoever has the political upper hand at the moment? Because one was a indispensible paragon of civil rights and an avatar of anti-racism and the other is a shrieking whackjob entertainer peddling freeze-dried survivalist food while spreading lies, mental illness and grief to families of murdered kids. Hey, you're the one who brought up history.
          • ThrowawayR2 8y ago
            And when the next generation's MLK shows up and gets persecuted again by the powers that be, except now there are even better deplatforming tools to silence him? Whoops, game over. Hey, you're the one who failed to think things through. The tired old "b-but deplatforming will only ever by used against _bad_ people" argument is exactly a failure to appreciate the lessons of history, of which MLK is an excellent example.
            • harrumph 8y ago
              >Hey, you're the one who failed to think things through. No, I'm the one who corrected an utterly insane equivalence drawn between a commercial figure who drives grieving fathers of murdered kids to suicide and a man who was literally killed for his demanding equal treatment for all people. Again: if you bring up history, you are now forced to deal with historical results and categories. Deal with them. Don't just pretend you are.
              • ThrowawayR2 8y ago
                I don't see a valid counterargument in your response? It's ironic that, on a site where the UNIX philosophy is widely appreciated, that so many fail to appreciate the wisdom of the old quote "UNIX was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever things.". So too, with Alex Jones, MLK, and freedom of speech.
• Noumenon72 8y ago
  I upvoted this comment because I saw people were downvoting it.