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What's interesting to note is that the Arab Spring was largely organized on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. US media outlets were thrilled abo

What's interesting to note is that the Arab Spring was largely organized on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. US media outlets were thrilled about this, and wrote article after article talking about how these platforms gave the common man the opportunity to vent about police brutality, corruption, election fraud, and unemployment in a way that simply wasn't possible previously. The general attitude at the time was that social media platforms, and the free speech they enabled, would be a force for good in the world, despite the Arab Spring involving a fair amount of violence and ultimately leading the upheaval of several countries. Fast forward a decade later, and now the attitude is the complete opposite.

xenadu02 6y ago
A "riot" to eject a dictator vs a "riot" to stop Congress from certifying the winner of the election/install Trump as dictator are - to my eyes - entirely different in character. People do what it takes to survive. Trump usurping power and ending 230 years of US democracy represents an existential threat. Don't be shocked that a lot of people and companies are not on-board with that idea and are willing to take extreme measures to prevent it.
- stretchcat 6y ago
  When the dictator operates a secular government and the alternative is an ochlocratic theocracy, I don't think the morality of the situation is so clear cut.
  - xenadu02 6y ago
    I didn't mean to imply the result is always ideal or even good. That's one of the dangers of revolutions and suppression of dissent. I'm saying there is no reason to be surprised when you're asking platforms to ignore Trump's attempt to end democracy and they decline. To give a hypothetical: if Trump's followers were harassing Matt Prince's family every day at home, work, and school there wouldn't be any hand-wringing about "free speech" or "censorship" from Cloudflare. Anyone related to Trump would find themselves banned in short order. That would be purely a move of self-preservation. Similarly a lot of platforms (and donors) realize these people are no longer useful idiots but deluded to the point of ransacking the house of Congress in an attempt to overturn the election. That's really dangerous and could destabilize the country and even the world. When faced with an existential threat don't be shocked when people are unwilling to sit down and debate on behalf of MAGAs/Fox News acting in bad faith.
scythe 6y ago
Another parallel: the Arab Spring revolts were hijacked by Islamists everywhere but Tunisia, and whatever legitimate complaints ("anti-hyperglobalization"?) galvanized the Trump movement in its early days were ultimately drowned out by the much louder voices of white nationalists (QAnon/PB) and apocalypse-seekers[1] who wanted to use the movement to gain power. 1: https://newrepublic.com/article/160922/capitol-riot-revealed-darkest-nightmares-white-evangelical-america https://newrepublic.com/article/160922/capitol-riot-revealed...

xenadu02 6y ago

A "riot" to eject a dictator vs a "riot" to stop Congress from certifying the winner of the election/install Trump as dictator are - to my eyes - entirely different in character. People do what it takes to survive. Trump usurping power and ending 230 years of US democracy represents an existential threat. Don't be shocked that a lot of people and companies are not on-board with that idea and are willing to take extreme measures to prevent it.

stretchcat 6y ago
When the dictator operates a secular government and the alternative is an ochlocratic theocracy, I don't think the morality of the situation is so clear cut.
- xenadu02 6y ago
  I didn't mean to imply the result is always ideal or even good. That's one of the dangers of revolutions and suppression of dissent. I'm saying there is no reason to be surprised when you're asking platforms to ignore Trump's attempt to end democracy and they decline. To give a hypothetical: if Trump's followers were harassing Matt Prince's family every day at home, work, and school there wouldn't be any hand-wringing about "free speech" or "censorship" from Cloudflare. Anyone related to Trump would find themselves banned in short order. That would be purely a move of self-preservation. Similarly a lot of platforms (and donors) realize these people are no longer useful idiots but deluded to the point of ransacking the house of Congress in an attempt to overturn the election. That's really dangerous and could destabilize the country and even the world. When faced with an existential threat don't be shocked when people are unwilling to sit down and debate on behalf of MAGAs/Fox News acting in bad faith.

scythe 6y ago

Another parallel: the Arab Spring revolts were hijacked by Islamists everywhere but Tunisia, and whatever legitimate complaints ("anti-hyperglobalization"?) galvanized the Trump movement in its early days were ultimately drowned out by the much louder voices of white nationalists (QAnon/PB) and apocalypse-seekers[1] who wanted to use the movement to gain power. 1: https://newrepublic.com/article/160922/capitol-riot-revealed-darkest-nightmares-white-evangelical-america https://newrepublic.com/article/160922/capitol-riot-revealed...