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There is no argument for censorship, suspension or banning, based on our 1st amendment—- on any of the multiple platforms doing so. I came on here just to chec

There is no argument for censorship, suspension or banning, based on our 1st amendment—- on any of the multiple platforms doing so. I came on here just to check what the “young intellectual tech” community thinks— I consider myself part of it. I’m a 20-something female, born in the heart of Silicon Valley, and have been heavily involved in tech during my short career. Heads up: This isn’t animal farm, this is 1984! I never post on here and stopped reading awhile ago due to the one-minded propaganda I consistently find on the site these days (i was a lurker a longtime before i made this account) but I feel compelled to share my opinion because these times matter, and us young (and old) folks matter. Amen and a-women? Welcome to the best addition to New Speak. Please look that up if you don’t know what it is. Have you zoomed out on how Big (and Little) Tech had subtle involvement here? And how they may be affecting how you’re thinking? I can personally say after having deleted social media for almost 2 years, and combing through different sources (time consuming)- I feel very differently now than I did four years, or eight years ago. See my links below. “I don’t like Trump” and “not being a Trump supporter,” standing behind Big Tech — the badges of honor on Hacker News. But here’s my practical advice: be very careful who you’re choosing. Everything in life is a trade off— even who’s in the White House, who’s in office, who you’re casting your votes for, the apps you use, and the companies you give your money and support to. Another piece of advice: for some laughs, and practical news these days, check out AwakenwithJP and Brett Pella :-) (seriously all their videos are pretty good, especially JP!) Another piece: Hear other perspectives “i was wrong about the Democratic Party,” Georgia H. Finally, I’ll close with this recommendation: “when the plague arrives,” NTD. Hope you hackers open your big brains, put your thinking caps on and leave confirmation bias in the past.

nemothekid 6y ago
>There is no argument for censorship, suspension or banning, based on our 1st amendment—- on any of the multiple platforms doing so. Free speech absolutism has never been a thing on the internet so I'm not surprised he was banned after inciting a mob to attack the nations capital.
- curlyQueue 6y ago
  Asking you respectfully to please take 15 mins and watch these two videos, can do much better than I can: https://youtu.be/8SicsQervb4 https://youtu.be/8SicsQervb4 https://youtu.be/xH9XWNz0GW4 https://youtu.be/xH9XWNz0GW4
  - nemothekid 6y ago
    Really, you believe I should have the right to post child porn? Do you believe I should be allowed to post child porn here to HN? After all if dang removes it he is censoring me. If you are truly a free speech absolutist, then before I watch these videos, confirm that you should believe I should be allowed to post child porn free from any sort of moderation.
    - curlyQueue 6y ago
      Interesting comparison. Dignifying with a simple example: Child porn != Video promoting peace by President Trump Child porn != Speaking freely about election fraud, and spreading information as such. The difference is child porn is clearly illegal, while the other things are clearly not. Children are being hurt, which is illegal. These comparisons are stretches, just like your logic. Hope you watch now! Stay open minded :-)
      - nemothekid 6y ago
        Ok, so you agree there are limits on my free speech right? You, yourself, just explained that there is some line in sand that must be drawn? After all again, by your own argument, I have no right to distribute child pornography. Clearly, you, yourself, don't fully believe that there is no argument for censorship, suspension or banning, based on our 1st amendment - you are not willing to defend me of my right to distribute child porn. You must then agree, by the framing of your answer, that this is no longer a conversation about free speech and about whether or not Trump incited violence. It's clear that you understand that if it were Trump promoting violence, that my comparison wouldn't be such a stretch. So can we agree to not waste our time discussing the merits free speech? Google and Apple are deplatforming Parler for inciting violence - and enforcing no moderation towards users that do so. If you want to argue that "inciting violence" is not "clearly illegal" then I'm willing to watch videos that support that case, but you should make it clear that is your position, and not a general one about "free speech".
alphabettsy 6y ago
Maybe you should take some time to understand what the first amendment guarantees. Call it censorship if you like, but it’s not a First Amendment issue.
- gotoeleven 6y ago
  So if all the censorship comes from private companies working in concert with a major political party because they are fellow travelers, it's not a big deal? I have a vague memory of the left being against unchecked corporate power...
  - perl4ever 6y ago
    As someone who is about 3 years too old to be a millennial, I grew up without the internet, so I just don't, deep down, think any amount of online censorship is apocalyptic. If you are somewhat younger, you probably can't imagine living differently, so in an odd way, you are more (small-c) conservative.
  - curlyQueue 6y ago
    Thanks for this. Put it better than I could!
  - alphabettsy 6y ago
    The left is still in favor of breaking these companies up.
- curlyQueue 6y ago
  Strong comment. Humor me by explaining this coordinated attack in the context of what is guaranteed by the first amendment, perhaps I am missing something?: - YouTube says it will no longer allow users to upload videos claiming that President Trump lost the 2020 presidential election due to fraud. - A video message from president Donald Trump calling for peace and to go home, was deleted by Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on Wednesday as a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol. - Many conservative twitter users are reporting significant drops in followers, likely because many small accounts are being purged too. - Reddit banned /r/DonaldTrump, the largest pro-Trump forum on the site, and Discord banned the server “The Donald” while acknowledging there was no evidence the chat played any role in inciting violence at all. - Michael Flynn was kicked off Twitter permanently - Steve Bannon’s YouTube channel was permanently suspended. - Parler was taken off Google’s Google Play store, and Apple has threatened to follow suit. - Twitch, a streaming service owned by Amazon, and Snapchat, both suspended Trump’s accounts. - Shopify took down two online stores affiliated with Trump, one belonging to his campaign and the other to the Trump Organization. - Finally — Trump’s Twitter and Facebook is indefinitely suspended until “at least” the inauguration. I am not even mentioning the hypocrisy that has occurred... No effort by these companies, or anyone really, to stop violence by leftist causes. No such drastic measures taken. If you know something I don’t, again— make me informed. I’m sure I haven’t covered all of it. But please, out of respect and the sharing of ideas: I ask for 15 minutes of your time (don’t know why i care so much lol) but seriously! Give these a watch, he does a much better job than I can covering why this is relevant to free speech and censorship, in a succinct manner: https://youtu.be/8SicsQervb4 https://youtu.be/8SicsQervb4 https://youtu.be/xH9XWNz0GW4 https://youtu.be/xH9XWNz0GW4

nemothekid 6y ago

>There is no argument for censorship, suspension or banning, based on our 1st amendment—- on any of the multiple platforms doing so. Free speech absolutism has never been a thing on the internet so I'm not surprised he was banned after inciting a mob to attack the nations capital.

curlyQueue 6y ago
Asking you respectfully to please take 15 mins and watch these two videos, can do much better than I can: https://youtu.be/8SicsQervb4 https://youtu.be/8SicsQervb4 https://youtu.be/xH9XWNz0GW4 https://youtu.be/xH9XWNz0GW4
- nemothekid 6y ago
  Really, you believe I should have the right to post child porn? Do you believe I should be allowed to post child porn here to HN? After all if dang removes it he is censoring me. If you are truly a free speech absolutist, then before I watch these videos, confirm that you should believe I should be allowed to post child porn free from any sort of moderation.
  - curlyQueue 6y ago
    Interesting comparison. Dignifying with a simple example: Child porn != Video promoting peace by President Trump Child porn != Speaking freely about election fraud, and spreading information as such. The difference is child porn is clearly illegal, while the other things are clearly not. Children are being hurt, which is illegal. These comparisons are stretches, just like your logic. Hope you watch now! Stay open minded :-)
    - nemothekid 6y ago
      Ok, so you agree there are limits on my free speech right? You, yourself, just explained that there is some line in sand that must be drawn? After all again, by your own argument, I have no right to distribute child pornography. Clearly, you, yourself, don't fully believe that there is no argument for censorship, suspension or banning, based on our 1st amendment - you are not willing to defend me of my right to distribute child porn. You must then agree, by the framing of your answer, that this is no longer a conversation about free speech and about whether or not Trump incited violence. It's clear that you understand that if it were Trump promoting violence, that my comparison wouldn't be such a stretch. So can we agree to not waste our time discussing the merits free speech? Google and Apple are deplatforming Parler for inciting violence - and enforcing no moderation towards users that do so. If you want to argue that "inciting violence" is not "clearly illegal" then I'm willing to watch videos that support that case, but you should make it clear that is your position, and not a general one about "free speech".

alphabettsy 6y ago

Maybe you should take some time to understand what the first amendment guarantees. Call it censorship if you like, but it’s not a First Amendment issue.

gotoeleven 6y ago
So if all the censorship comes from private companies working in concert with a major political party because they are fellow travelers, it's not a big deal? I have a vague memory of the left being against unchecked corporate power...
- perl4ever 6y ago
  As someone who is about 3 years too old to be a millennial, I grew up without the internet, so I just don't, deep down, think any amount of online censorship is apocalyptic. If you are somewhat younger, you probably can't imagine living differently, so in an odd way, you are more (small-c) conservative.
- curlyQueue 6y ago
  Thanks for this. Put it better than I could!
- alphabettsy 6y ago
  The left is still in favor of breaking these companies up.
curlyQueue 6y ago
Strong comment. Humor me by explaining this coordinated attack in the context of what is guaranteed by the first amendment, perhaps I am missing something?: - YouTube says it will no longer allow users to upload videos claiming that President Trump lost the 2020 presidential election due to fraud. - A video message from president Donald Trump calling for peace and to go home, was deleted by Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on Wednesday as a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol. - Many conservative twitter users are reporting significant drops in followers, likely because many small accounts are being purged too. - Reddit banned /r/DonaldTrump, the largest pro-Trump forum on the site, and Discord banned the server “The Donald” while acknowledging there was no evidence the chat played any role in inciting violence at all. - Michael Flynn was kicked off Twitter permanently - Steve Bannon’s YouTube channel was permanently suspended. - Parler was taken off Google’s Google Play store, and Apple has threatened to follow suit. - Twitch, a streaming service owned by Amazon, and Snapchat, both suspended Trump’s accounts. - Shopify took down two online stores affiliated with Trump, one belonging to his campaign and the other to the Trump Organization. - Finally — Trump’s Twitter and Facebook is indefinitely suspended until “at least” the inauguration. I am not even mentioning the hypocrisy that has occurred... No effort by these companies, or anyone really, to stop violence by leftist causes. No such drastic measures taken. If you know something I don’t, again— make me informed. I’m sure I haven’t covered all of it. But please, out of respect and the sharing of ideas: I ask for 15 minutes of your time (don’t know why i care so much lol) but seriously! Give these a watch, he does a much better job than I can covering why this is relevant to free speech and censorship, in a succinct manner: https://youtu.be/8SicsQervb4 https://youtu.be/8SicsQervb4 https://youtu.be/xH9XWNz0GW4 https://youtu.be/xH9XWNz0GW4