8 ms·
>BigTech has just now gone nuclear in their censorship efforts Who's being censored? Twitter, Facebook etc. are private platforms and they've been banning user
by antris 6y ago
>BigTech has just now gone nuclear in their censorship efforts
Who's being censored? Twitter, Facebook etc. are private platforms and they've been banning users who break their TOS throughout their histories.
- mandelbrotwurst 6y agoPrivate entities can and do engage in censorship.
- WClayFerguson 6y agoThe best analogy to help low-information people understand this is to just remind them that AT&T owns the hardware and can shut down people too. Do we want powerful companies to be allowed to censor Americans at their whim is the question. I say no.
- deanstag 6y agoDoes that mean an alternative solution would allow inciting violence?
- jazzyjackson 6y agoSo lobby the government to break up AT&T so they don't have monopoly power... (oh wait)
- antris 6y agoSure, but the parent poster seems to imply that banning people who incite violence on social media is somehow a new thing or "going nuclear" with censorship. Trump got clapped not because of censorship, but because social media platforms decided to no longer exempt him from their TOS because of his position. Any normal person posting similar content would have been banned ages ago. Besides, he is the POTUS who can go on TV any time he wants. Thinking that he cannot get his message out there is ridiculous.
- WClayFerguson 6y agoTrump never called for any violence. However there are lots of left wing people on Twitter calling for violence and the left-wing operated BigTech think that's just fine, while they will ban any right wing person at the drop of a hat for completely made-up reasons like saying something wrong about gender pronouns. Look the Joe Rogan podcast with Tim Pool and Jack Dorsey, and try to educate yourself.
- antris 6y ago>Trump never called for any violence Alright, so finally after a few seemingly innocuous arguments you took your mask off. A person who believes storming the Capitol was not organized by Trump at this point would be able to find a justification to anything he says or does.
- WClayFerguson 6y agoThis is an example of black-and-white logic, tribalism, and an inability to comprehend nuance. I can state any number of the 100s of lies and hoaxes told about Trump and the only thing Democrats can hear is a "praise" of Trump, rather than a statement of fact.
- blindgeek 6y agoTrump was also great advertising for Twitter, just like he was great for the news media. I'd argue that Big Media, Inc. is deeply complicit in the rise of Donald Trump. He was the goose that laid the golden egg. Additionally, the media mergers of the 80s and 90s gave us right-wing talk radio on the AM band, sewing the spores of hate from which the vile toadstool of Trumpism bloomed. Big Tech, Inc., with its algorithms that promote radical right-wing content, also seems suspect. To me the solution to all of these problems is to break up conglomerates and monopolies. Let's have more decentralization and more "small is beautiful" tech, like the chat system presented here. Let a million flowers blossom, smothering the aforementioned toadstool. (Wandering off to look at installing Cabal).
- WClayFerguson 6y agoI started using the term "nuclear" once Amazon Cloud Services decided to terminate the Parler web server hosting. If internet service providers can shut down speech they disagree with, by going after the servers, then we're no longer living in a democracy.
- jv22222 6y agoI “think” that’s a false equivalency because democracy is the government and private companies are something different.
- antris 6y ago>If internet service providers can shut down speech they disagree with, by going after the servers, then we're no longer living in a democracy. You present this as if Parler is being shut down because people there have the wrong opinion on tax rates. People on Parler are planning violent fascist overthrow of government, which is illegal. Why would Amazon be obligated to host sites that cater to terrorists?
- WClayFerguson 6y agoThe social media purge began long before Parler even existed. Yes people are getting banned from Twitter for life for having the wrong political opinions. It you deny that everyone knows you're either dishonest or uninformed. People on the left are allowed to call for violence and say all kinds of racist things hate filled things, but if someone on the right even says something like "There are only two sexes" that's enough to get banned for life. The only reason the democrats all deny the existence of any double-standard is because MSM and BigTech happen to be in their tribe, so they all dare not call out one of their own.
- antris 6y ago"BigTech has gone nuclear with censorship" immediately after a coup attempt is a wildly different statement than "there is a long-running political double standard that exists in tech companies when it comes to enforcing their TOS". Should I take take it that you have conceded your previous statement? I would like to complete the discussion on the previous point before moving on to another topic of discussion.
- jb775 6y agoIf you broke the TOS of your water company, would it be acceptable for them to cut the water connection to your house? I mean if you don't like it, you could always just go pick up your own water...or install underground pipes to a local water source.
- antris 6y agoHaving your message broadcasted through Twitter is not a human right or essential to your survival. Also, what kind of TOS would a water company have that you can break? This example is ridiculous.
- jb775 6y agoSorry, but since the water company is privately owned they can do whatever they please. If you don't like it, you can build your own water company. Thanks! ...now you know how it feels for anyone on the opposite side of your argument.
- fishtacos 6y agoPlease post a link to the terms of service of your water company. I'm doubtful there is no clause in your city's/county's/municipality's/state's, etc. that allows them to interrupt service without cause. That's why terms of service exist. Now I'm genuinely curious to find out what terms of service you agreed to with the private water company. What type of settlement do you live in?
- antris 6y agoNah. The water infrastructure at my home isn't owned by a private company. I live in a state that has this radical policy that water is a human right and should not be commoditized.
- WClayFerguson 6y agoOn a related note: The Governor of California was cutting off electricity and water to homes for the crime of "peaceful assembly", recently... so it's not just free speech that's under assault, but probably you could say most rights, at this point. The good ol' democrat mantra: "Never let a good crisis go to waste."
- dang 6y agoThis has been and is being discussed in so many HN threads right now that this is not a great place to re-rehearse the same flamewars. Let's not let the generic drown out the specific—that's the main thing that reduces intellectual curiosity on the site. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=generic%20discussion%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor... https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html (Yes, the GP comment started it by including flamebait, but it's not necessary to take the bait, and the guidelines ask everyone to resist that.)
- antris 6y agoYeah, fair enough. I'm just worried about these kinds of statements going unchallenged. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_truth_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_truth_effect