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From experience I would recommend meeting and getting to know people politically from different ends of the spectrum. Not every conservative is anti-LGBTQ, nor

From experience I would recommend meeting and getting to know people politically from different ends of the spectrum. Not every conservative is anti-LGBTQ, nor do they agree with nationalizing the media, nor agree with intervention in public education, etc.. Net Neutrality is an issue I’m not a fan of but my opinion is not because the current system isn’t broken, but because I’m not sure government intervention would make it less broken. The right has nuance to it the same way the progressive left has nuance that separates them from the establishment left. I think Gab and Parler give a voice to some questionable characters. Parler, in particular, has some investors I’m not exactly a fan of. However the ecology of diverse platforms does fit in with traditionally enlightenment ideas around speech that I subscribe to. So I support them. Perhaps we disagree what it means to be thoughtful. I think that’s a fair debate. Speaking to your point about echo chambers, I agree this is probably the biggest societal and technological problem facing us today. How do we get people to see we aren’t all that different and want to debate complex issues? Far right” and “Radical Left” are not terms that inspire debate and critical thinking. It’s almost as if society wants to dumb us down and lower the human consciousness.

danShumway 6y ago
I do know Conservatives who I would consider to be pro-free-speech. They're just not the people on Gab. My criticism here is that in many cases, literally the same people that I see talking about how Net Neutrality might be problematic are advocating for concepts like reintroducing a Fairness Doctrine, for imposing massive regulations on what Facebook can and can't censor. At some point it's OK to acknowledge those contradictory positions aren't born out of some kind of nuance, they're born out of either thoughtlessness or bad faith. I'm willing to engage with Conservatives who are genuinely grappling with free speech and aren't falling into those contradictions, but I'm also not going to pretend that Gab has ever been a good faith actor in that conversation. Being upfront about the obviously hypocritical sections of both the far right and many mainstream GOP senators is a necessary part of that engagement. It means acknowledging that Conservatives are diverse, but also being blunt about the overall direction (in the context of the legislation, surveys, platforms like CPAC, and general official party statements coming out) that the party is going is not in a pro-free-speech direction. Because if I'm not upfront about those things, then the conversation just devolves into reexplaining freedom of association for the 20th time. And that devolution of discussion also crowds out the Conservatives who actually do care about free speech who might have something interesting to say. Part of this is that I actually do care about free speech, so I have a vested interest in making progress during conversations, in moving past basic ideas that the free speech community has already hashed out, and instead engaging with more complicated ideas that are more important right now. I don't want to waste time rehashing the same debates over and over again just because people like Ted Cruz, Andrew Torba, and Donald Trump don't understand the free market. Not only because I don't really want to engage with those people in general, but also because the actual free speech debate matters, and those people are holding it back. My frustration here was a response to a comment arguing that criticism of Gab as a platform was a sign that Americans overall no longer care about free speech. I'm happy to engage with Conservatives that have more nuanced views, but again, in my experience those are usually not the people who are trying to sell Gab as a free speech utopia. And to the original comment's question of why "free speech" platforms like Gab often tend to market primarily to a very specific segment of the alt right, it's important to understand that it's not because everyone else hates the 1st Amendment, it's because the alt right uses the "free speech" debate disingenuously as a cloak to hide more nefarious goals.
- Krisando 6y ago
  > I'm also not going to pretend that Gab has ever been a good faith actor in that conversation. It really hasn't, and in my opinion, neither has any other social media platform. > My frustration here was a response to a comment arguing that criticism of Gab as a platform was a sign that Americans overall no longer care about free speech. Polarising the issues and gaslighting is the norm today.

danShumway 6y ago

I do know Conservatives who I would consider to be pro-free-speech. They're just not the people on Gab. My criticism here is that in many cases, literally the same people that I see talking about how Net Neutrality might be problematic are advocating for concepts like reintroducing a Fairness Doctrine, for imposing massive regulations on what Facebook can and can't censor. At some point it's OK to acknowledge those contradictory positions aren't born out of some kind of nuance, they're born out of either thoughtlessness or bad faith. I'm willing to engage with Conservatives who are genuinely grappling with free speech and aren't falling into those contradictions, but I'm also not going to pretend that Gab has ever been a good faith actor in that conversation. Being upfront about the obviously hypocritical sections of both the far right and many mainstream GOP senators is a necessary part of that engagement. It means acknowledging that Conservatives are diverse, but also being blunt about the overall direction (in the context of the legislation, surveys, platforms like CPAC, and general official party statements coming out) that the party is going is not in a pro-free-speech direction. Because if I'm not upfront about those things, then the conversation just devolves into reexplaining freedom of association for the 20th time. And that devolution of discussion also crowds out the Conservatives who actually do care about free speech who might have something interesting to say. Part of this is that I actually do care about free speech, so I have a vested interest in making progress during conversations, in moving past basic ideas that the free speech community has already hashed out, and instead engaging with more complicated ideas that are more important right now. I don't want to waste time rehashing the same debates over and over again just because people like Ted Cruz, Andrew Torba, and Donald Trump don't understand the free market. Not only because I don't really want to engage with those people in general, but also because the actual free speech debate matters, and those people are holding it back. My frustration here was a response to a comment arguing that criticism of Gab as a platform was a sign that Americans overall no longer care about free speech. I'm happy to engage with Conservatives that have more nuanced views, but again, in my experience those are usually not the people who are trying to sell Gab as a free speech utopia. And to the original comment's question of why "free speech" platforms like Gab often tend to market primarily to a very specific segment of the alt right, it's important to understand that it's not because everyone else hates the 1st Amendment, it's because the alt right uses the "free speech" debate disingenuously as a cloak to hide more nefarious goals.

Krisando 6y ago
> I'm also not going to pretend that Gab has ever been a good faith actor in that conversation. It really hasn't, and in my opinion, neither has any other social media platform. > My frustration here was a response to a comment arguing that criticism of Gab as a platform was a sign that Americans overall no longer care about free speech. Polarising the issues and gaslighting is the norm today.