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The problem is that what garners the attention of said free-speech crusaders tends to be wildly unbalanced. The issues of FB banning white nationalism and 8cha
by fzeroracer 7y ago
The problem is that what garners the attention of said free-speech crusaders tends to be wildly unbalanced.
The issues of FB banning white nationalism and 8chan being kicked off of cloudflare incited a massive thread and attention here on HN. Then you have stories like this one with the government itself engaging in very selective measures in attempt to censure people and it doesn't gain nearly the same amount of attention as it should.
I've posted various similar stories here on HN and there is a very obvious slant towards what 'violations' of freedom of speech invoke a larger response here on HN or across the various tech communities.
- deogeo 7y agoAre you sure they didn't get more attention from free-speech crusaders simply because they got more coverage in the media? Speaking for myself, I see stories of government prosecution used to stifle speech extremely rarely (unless we count every instance of the cops getting too rough with protestors). Which is not to say it happens rarely, it's just not reported on much. There's another aspect to this, I think. Cops have been arresting protesters for centuries - we've reached equilibrium there. But censorship by globe-spanning private companies is new, as is the growing share of communication controlled by them. Which makes it scarier, and harder to predict if it'll get much worse in the coming decades.