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https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24896051 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24896051

rendall 6y ago
Do you think you could be affected by selection bias? If I review the comments that mention censorship, it seems to be a nuanced discussion from a range of political perspectives: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+censorship&ia=web https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+censor... The reason that some people (like myself, admittedly) are upset about extremist views being censored is not because we agree with the extremist views, but because censorship starts with the views that "everyone" can agree to censor; communists, ethno nationalists, anarchists; for example, then it expands to suppress religious minorities, atheists, sexual minorities, racial minorities, etc, etc. Censorship is then used to suppress even the discussion of whether censorship is correctly applied. Once that mechanism is in place, the censorship inevitably expands to include information that is inconvenient or embarrassing to those who control the censors. Witness the persecution of Julian Assange, for example.
- x86_64Ubuntu 6y ago
  Not being able to publicize Neo-Nazi views on private platforms does not equal censorship, regardless of how much HN's audience tries to make it out to be.
  - rendall 6y ago
    I think you might be mischaracterizing the views of those you oppose. If you dismiss concerns about censorship as being about neo-nazis, you're missing the larger point. The ability of private corporations to suppress ideas in social media is unprecedented. If FAANG, Twitter and PayPal get to determine the bounds of acceptable discourse, how do you know it's going to go the way that you personally approve of? What protects your speech?
  - rendall 6y ago
    Here is an article from Matt Taibbi that lays out the problem better than I, and not a neo-nazi to be found anywhere: https://taibbi.substack.com/p/meet-the-censored-andre-damon https://taibbi.substack.com/p/meet-the-censored-andre-damon

Do you think you could be affected by selection bias? If I review the comments that mention censorship, it seems to be a nuanced discussion from a range of political perspectives: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+censorship&ia=web https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+censor... The reason that some people (like myself, admittedly) are upset about extremist views being censored is not because we agree with the extremist views, but because censorship starts with the views that "everyone" can agree to censor; communists, ethno nationalists, anarchists; for example, then it expands to suppress religious minorities, atheists, sexual minorities, racial minorities, etc, etc. Censorship is then used to suppress even the discussion of whether censorship is correctly applied. Once that mechanism is in place, the censorship inevitably expands to include information that is inconvenient or embarrassing to those who control the censors. Witness the persecution of Julian Assange, for example.

x86_64Ubuntu 6y ago
Not being able to publicize Neo-Nazi views on private platforms does not equal censorship, regardless of how much HN's audience tries to make it out to be.
- rendall 6y ago
  I think you might be mischaracterizing the views of those you oppose. If you dismiss concerns about censorship as being about neo-nazis, you're missing the larger point. The ability of private corporations to suppress ideas in social media is unprecedented. If FAANG, Twitter and PayPal get to determine the bounds of acceptable discourse, how do you know it's going to go the way that you personally approve of? What protects your speech?
- rendall 6y ago
  Here is an article from Matt Taibbi that lays out the problem better than I, and not a neo-nazi to be found anywhere: https://taibbi.substack.com/p/meet-the-censored-andre-damon https://taibbi.substack.com/p/meet-the-censored-andre-damon