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The real problem is that Parler sincerely wanted to start a free speech platform, and this is another data point that the idea, while well intentioned, doesn't
by ben509 6y ago
The real problem is that Parler sincerely wanted to start a free speech platform, and this is another data point that the idea, while well intentioned, doesn't work. It's a just-world fallacy: because free speech is a good and just thing, a business model predicated on free speech will be successful.
The first trouble is that you are opening the doors to all sorts of extremists. Whether they're far left, far right or simply personally unhinged, they are as predatory as spammers. They have no qualms about abusing your good will and s**ing in the punch bowl.
Same thing happened with Gab and Minds, but also smaller bulletin boards I've seen over the years. You set up a free speech site, and next thing you have a bunch of Nazis festooning it with swastikas. They're just like spammers, except they're spamming ideology instead of work from home scams.
The second trouble is that Parler is a competitor to established media corporations, who have a strong incentive to shut them down. That's a reality that every new business needs to face: established firms do not want competition.
All the people running amok provide the established firms with plenty of ammo to tar the upstart's reputation. And while they are biased by their incentives, they feel they are acting justly because they see all the extremist lunatics there. AWS didn't fabricate those incidents on Parler, all those were real posts.
- amanaplanacanal 6y agoDid they actually want a free speech platform? I thought they were known for booting lefties off the platform.
- ben509 6y agoAll the partisan boards I've seen, left and right, all plainly labeled themselves as such. If you're going to be a place for like-minded people, that's a selling point. It doesn't make a lot of business sense to say, "we invite everyone in" and then plan on kicking out a lot of users. There are loads of simpler reasons why lefties thought they were getting booted, especially incompetence on Parler's part.
- mr_toad 6y agoWhen the likes of Facebook start to worry about competition or they just buy them. Look at WhatsApp. AWS didn’t see Parler as competition, just a liability.