6 ms·

Reddit Ireland turns off at midnight to stop racist trolls

18 points by AndrewDucker 6y ago

andrewflnr 6y ago
What is even being discussed here? A subreddit?
- null0pointer 6y ago
  Yeah, this article is almost completely devoid of information.
- platemovement 6y ago
  The article isn't clear about it, but I believe it's: https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/
grawprog 6y ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/gyyv6y/temporary_closure_of_rireland_at_latenight_hours/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/gyyv6y/temporary_c... This might be a better link.
- cpcallen 6y ago
  Not at the moment, it's not!: https://imgur.com/a/68M8iyN https://imgur.com/a/68M8iyN
  - grawprog 6y ago
    Oh...well, it was working when I posted it, I'm not a member of the community and I could see it at one point but it does seem to be blocked now. I regret not copying and pasting the post now, I didn't think it would vanish. Sorry, the link did explain at the time I posted it.
Barrin92 6y ago
I used to post on the r/europe subreddit frequently and it's something I noticed too. On occasion when I was up late at night the quality went down considerably and it turned extremely toxic compared to discussions around the rest of the day. A lot of racism and in a very obvious way coming from foreign commentators who were only remotely familiar with European politics. The French far-right candidate in the last election even had a dedicated sub with not a single comment in French, ironically enough.
- non-entity 6y ago
  I thought r/europe has been like that for quite a while now.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
jimbob45 6y ago
Let’s call it what it is: censorship. They’re obscuring censorship under the moral imperative of silencing the racism boogeyman.
- weare138 6y ago
  Obvious trolling and/or racist comments get moderated on HN too, what's the difference?
  - non-entity 6y ago
    Nothing, they'll call that censorship too.
    - weare138 6y ago
      True. You'd think I would have learned by now. You can't have a logical discussion about illogical views.
  - jimbob45 6y ago
    They don’t get removed though. You can still read them.
    - weare138 6y ago
      If you have the option set sure, but they still get flagged and removed from the thread. I just don't see how moderating comments would be considered 'censorship'. Just go post that crap on your own subreddit. If someone is purposefully highjacking a thread to derail it with off-topic comments then they would be the one attempting to suppress someones else's opinion. If the party in question is already acting in bad faith, I don't see how an argument could be made in their favor.
- happytoexplain 6y ago
  "Boogeyman" is a term used for things that don't exist.
- 6y ago
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
sys_64738 6y ago
Ireland? Why the heck would people troll that forum. Madness.
- me_me_me 6y ago
  Hypothetically speaking, if a country can afford a standing army and pay the thousands of privates for doing pushups and running around in circles with backpacks and guns. Then its not crazy to assume they can afford bunch of people trolling internet forums in an attempt to destabilize (even slightly so) the internal politics of neighboring countries. Russian government is at weaker bargaining position when dealing with EU, then when dealing with single small country. So their vested interest is to push other countries to leave the EU.
pippy 6y ago
Reddit has become insufferable in the last few years. It used to be a great news and community aggregator, but since they switched to a social media platform the quality of content changed. It's easy to brush this off as the 'hivemind' effect, but it's a nasty combination of corporations and governments pushing agendas, identity politics, an eternal September, and even admins and moderators pushing their personal politics. There's not a single moderately popular subreddit that has no politics being shoved in your face. Unlike the downfall of Digg/ stumbleupon, there's no alternative.
s9w 6y ago
It's disgusting that the "article" doesn't even mention what this is all about. It's not like there are suddenly bad people swarming an innocent sub and "troll" it. There was an event happening in Ireland that is being censored on there and around the globe. Everyone who tries to bring it to light is being labeled a "racist troll" and punished by the machine. And it's even more disappointing that it works - with multiple people here wondering "why would people do that", without even looking for the real answer.
- eesmith 6y ago
  I take it you are afraid of mentioning whatever it is for fear of being labelled likewise? There have been many events, so it's hard to know which real answer you're alluding to.
  - s9w 6y ago
    yes
    - eesmith 6y ago
      Which means it could be racist trolling that you don't actually understand to be racist trolling. I've seen many green/new accounts. That's one way to comment about it.
      - s9w 6y ago
        True! It wasn't like that in the beginning though - this story has been purged everywhere. And this reporting in particular is saddening. Journalism is supposed to be about facts and not feelings. This article does hardly contain any relevant facts and only tells you how to feel - and it's being eaten up.
        eesmith 6y ago
        It's a fact that people have feelings. Journalism reports on feelings all the time. A DDG search for "classic journalism feelings" easily found https://www.cjr.org/analysis/journalism_and_the_power_of_emotions.php https://www.cjr.org/analysis/journalism_and_the_power_of_emo... - "Journalism and the power of emotions" > “Invisible Child” is an example of the power of storytelling. It’s also an example of what motivates many journalists, what we believe is possible through our narratives: to extend empathy for the individual to the group, to correct injustice and inspire change, or at least awareness. ... > From stories about living conditions in New York’s slum tenements of the 1880s to the plight of children in contemporary homeless shelters, empathy is an integral part of journalism.

18 points by AndrewDucker 6y ago

andrewflnr 6y ago

What is even being discussed here? A subreddit?

null0pointer 6y ago
Yeah, this article is almost completely devoid of information.
platemovement 6y ago
The article isn't clear about it, but I believe it's: https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/

grawprog 6y ago

https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/gyyv6y/temporary_closure_of_rireland_at_latenight_hours/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/gyyv6y/temporary_c... This might be a better link.

cpcallen 6y ago
Not at the moment, it's not!: https://imgur.com/a/68M8iyN https://imgur.com/a/68M8iyN
- grawprog 6y ago
  Oh...well, it was working when I posted it, I'm not a member of the community and I could see it at one point but it does seem to be blocked now. I regret not copying and pasting the post now, I didn't think it would vanish. Sorry, the link did explain at the time I posted it.

Barrin92 6y ago

I used to post on the r/europe subreddit frequently and it's something I noticed too. On occasion when I was up late at night the quality went down considerably and it turned extremely toxic compared to discussions around the rest of the day. A lot of racism and in a very obvious way coming from foreign commentators who were only remotely familiar with European politics. The French far-right candidate in the last election even had a dedicated sub with not a single comment in French, ironically enough.

non-entity 6y ago
I thought r/europe has been like that for quite a while now.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

jimbob45 6y ago

Let’s call it what it is: censorship. They’re obscuring censorship under the moral imperative of silencing the racism boogeyman.

weare138 6y ago
Obvious trolling and/or racist comments get moderated on HN too, what's the difference?
- non-entity 6y ago
  Nothing, they'll call that censorship too.
  - weare138 6y ago
    True. You'd think I would have learned by now. You can't have a logical discussion about illogical views.
- jimbob45 6y ago
  They don’t get removed though. You can still read them.
  - weare138 6y ago
    If you have the option set sure, but they still get flagged and removed from the thread. I just don't see how moderating comments would be considered 'censorship'. Just go post that crap on your own subreddit. If someone is purposefully highjacking a thread to derail it with off-topic comments then they would be the one attempting to suppress someones else's opinion. If the party in question is already acting in bad faith, I don't see how an argument could be made in their favor.
happytoexplain 6y ago
"Boogeyman" is a term used for things that don't exist.
6y ago

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

sys_64738 6y ago

Ireland? Why the heck would people troll that forum. Madness.

me_me_me 6y ago
Hypothetically speaking, if a country can afford a standing army and pay the thousands of privates for doing pushups and running around in circles with backpacks and guns. Then its not crazy to assume they can afford bunch of people trolling internet forums in an attempt to destabilize (even slightly so) the internal politics of neighboring countries. Russian government is at weaker bargaining position when dealing with EU, then when dealing with single small country. So their vested interest is to push other countries to leave the EU.

pippy 6y ago

Reddit has become insufferable in the last few years. It used to be a great news and community aggregator, but since they switched to a social media platform the quality of content changed. It's easy to brush this off as the 'hivemind' effect, but it's a nasty combination of corporations and governments pushing agendas, identity politics, an eternal September, and even admins and moderators pushing their personal politics. There's not a single moderately popular subreddit that has no politics being shoved in your face. Unlike the downfall of Digg/ stumbleupon, there's no alternative.

s9w 6y ago

It's disgusting that the "article" doesn't even mention what this is all about. It's not like there are suddenly bad people swarming an innocent sub and "troll" it. There was an event happening in Ireland that is being censored on there and around the globe. Everyone who tries to bring it to light is being labeled a "racist troll" and punished by the machine. And it's even more disappointing that it works - with multiple people here wondering "why would people do that", without even looking for the real answer.

eesmith 6y ago
I take it you are afraid of mentioning whatever it is for fear of being labelled likewise? There have been many events, so it's hard to know which real answer you're alluding to.
- s9w 6y ago
  yes
  - eesmith 6y ago
    Which means it could be racist trolling that you don't actually understand to be racist trolling. I've seen many green/new accounts. That's one way to comment about it.
    - s9w 6y ago
      True! It wasn't like that in the beginning though - this story has been purged everywhere. And this reporting in particular is saddening. Journalism is supposed to be about facts and not feelings. This article does hardly contain any relevant facts and only tells you how to feel - and it's being eaten up.
      - eesmith 6y ago
        It's a fact that people have feelings. Journalism reports on feelings all the time. A DDG search for "classic journalism feelings" easily found https://www.cjr.org/analysis/journalism_and_the_power_of_emotions.php https://www.cjr.org/analysis/journalism_and_the_power_of_emo... - "Journalism and the power of emotions" > “Invisible Child” is an example of the power of storytelling. It’s also an example of what motivates many journalists, what we believe is possible through our narratives: to extend empathy for the individual to the group, to correct injustice and inspire change, or at least awareness. ... > From stories about living conditions in New York’s slum tenements of the 1880s to the plight of children in contemporary homeless shelters, empathy is an integral part of journalism.