4 ms·

This is not a slippery slope argument, it's "what happens if we permit all this power to rest with a few people and one of them converts to or gets replaced by

by Natsu 6y ago

This is not a slippery slope argument, it's "what happens if we permit all this power to rest with a few people and one of them converts to or gets replaced by a Nazi in the future."

mullingitover 6y ago
This seems to assume that this power is some permanent, unearned thing. The internet is a cruel master - look no further than Tom from MySpace or Jerry Yang from Yahoo!. The power they possess was given to them by their users, and one day those users will find a new platform as they have always done. This isn't some Ma Bell situation where it's illegal to build another phone company.
- Natsu 6y ago
  > This seems to assume that this power is some permanent, unearned thing. It doesn't have to be permanent to be harmful. Suppose, I dunno, the Koch brothers somehow managed to buy Google (or maybe the Saudis, it doesn't matter really) and simply took over the existing power structure to use it for evil. Yes, maybe everyone would work to migrate, but it's hard not to think they could do some bad things in the mean time. > This isn't some Ma Bell situation where it's illegal to build another phone company. Well, if the alternatives get treated like the examples given up thread, that's quite an uphill battle, because you may not be able to get an ISP, payment processor, IP addresses, domain names, etc. Having to remake the entire infrastructure again makes some of these things natural monopolies even if it's not exactly illegal to build another one, network effects are still a pain.
  - mullingitover 6y ago
    > Well, if the alternatives get treated like the examples given up thread, that's quite an uphill battle, because you may not be able to get an ISP, payment processor, IP addresses, domain names, etc. Calling those particular sites 'alternatives' is ridiculous. There are legit competitors to the big social media sites that aren't cesspools of child porn and hate speech, and those are doing fine. Arguably the biggest up and coming competition, Tiktok, isn't being assailed on free speech grounds but over national security fears.

by Natsu 6y ago

This is not a slippery slope argument, it's "what happens if we permit all this power to rest with a few people and one of them converts to or gets replaced by a Nazi in the future."

mullingitover 6y ago

This seems to assume that this power is some permanent, unearned thing. The internet is a cruel master - look no further than Tom from MySpace or Jerry Yang from Yahoo!. The power they possess was given to them by their users, and one day those users will find a new platform as they have always done. This isn't some Ma Bell situation where it's illegal to build another phone company.

Natsu 6y ago
> This seems to assume that this power is some permanent, unearned thing. It doesn't have to be permanent to be harmful. Suppose, I dunno, the Koch brothers somehow managed to buy Google (or maybe the Saudis, it doesn't matter really) and simply took over the existing power structure to use it for evil. Yes, maybe everyone would work to migrate, but it's hard not to think they could do some bad things in the mean time. > This isn't some Ma Bell situation where it's illegal to build another phone company. Well, if the alternatives get treated like the examples given up thread, that's quite an uphill battle, because you may not be able to get an ISP, payment processor, IP addresses, domain names, etc. Having to remake the entire infrastructure again makes some of these things natural monopolies even if it's not exactly illegal to build another one, network effects are still a pain.
- mullingitover 6y ago
  > Well, if the alternatives get treated like the examples given up thread, that's quite an uphill battle, because you may not be able to get an ISP, payment processor, IP addresses, domain names, etc. Calling those particular sites 'alternatives' is ridiculous. There are legit competitors to the big social media sites that aren't cesspools of child porn and hate speech, and those are doing fine. Arguably the biggest up and coming competition, Tiktok, isn't being assailed on free speech grounds but over national security fears.