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The "tolerating intolerance" paradox rears its hideous head once again. As someone who grew up during the Internet's early "fuck censorship" days, the cognitive
by gary_0 6y ago
The "tolerating intolerance" paradox rears its hideous head once again. As someone who grew up during the Internet's early "fuck censorship" days, the cognitive dissonance causes me daily pain.
- krapp 6y agoEvery site on the early internet that dealt with user-submitted content practiced censorship. Even USENET allowed censorship. There were no "fuck censorship" days on the early internet, even the edgiest of edgelord sites drew a line somewhere.
- gary_0 6y agoThere was a casual distinction between removing spam/trolling and actual censorship, and since "platforms" weren't as much of a thing anyone could go set up their own mailing list or web site or IRC server and still be part of the action. The word "censorship" back then implied that (and it seems juvenile now) the gubbermint was comin' ta get all us freethinkers. The belief was that the Free Flow of Information would allow the truth to win out, and that as more people came online they would cast aside their illusions and embrace whatever vaguely anarcho-whatever utopian vision permeated the Internet back then. At least, me and my fellow kids had that naive belief. Maybe the older folks online already knew better.