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I really don't get this "don't say it online unless you'd be prepared to say it to their face". Does this mean that I shouldn't be prepared to express opinions

I really don't get this "don't say it online unless you'd be prepared to say it to their face". Does this mean that I shouldn't be prepared to express opinions unless I'm prepared to defend myself physically for holding those opinions? As I've mentioned elsewhere in this thread, I argue regularly (using a pseudonym) on one of my local football team's forums against a group of racists. Those racists are people who I'm pretty certain have used violence in the past, and I'm pretty certain would be more than happy to use violence in the future. I'm personally not a violent person, so should I simply keep quiet and let the voices of those prepared to use violence be the only ones that are heard?

patrickaljord 15y ago
These racists probably wouldn't post their racist coward attacks if they couldn't post them anonymously. Whether you argue with them using your real name or not won't change their opinion and won't change the fact that anonymity allowed them to spew their racists comments in the first place, you're wasting your time. Oh, and if you know who they are and know they attack people violently, you should call the police.
- icebraining 15y ago
  >These racists probably wouldn't post their racist coward attacks if they couldn't post them anonymously. You don't get out much, do you?
  - patrickaljord 15y ago
    I was born in Paris, France. Lived in Syria for 5 years then I got back to Paris and now I live in Arequipa, Peru. How about you dear?
    - prof_hobart 15y ago
      And you still think that violent racist football fans all hide behind anonymous names on the internet? How sweet.
      - patrickaljord 15y ago
        I've never been to an internet forum dedicated to football fans, it sounds like the most terrible way to waste time. But if that's your thing, how sweet.
        prof_hobart 15y ago
        Unlike commenting on this forum of course. And I notice that your lack of knowledge of the subject didn't stop you commenting on it.
- prof_hobart 15y ago
  The racists don't post anonymously. Pretty much everyone knows exactly who they are, and the kinds of violence they have been happy to carry out in the past. As for reporting them to the police - several of them are well known to the police and have been done for their crimes in the past. Others - we have no proof of what they do individually, but knowing who they hang around with and what has happened in their groups, it's highly unlikely to all be just talk. My posts may not change their opinions, but it's got a chance of changing the opinions of other people who go to these forums. Being a sports site, there's plenty of impressionable kids going there and if all they read, day after day, is links to stories about blacks or Muslims doing this crime or that crime, without any balance being presented they are going to get a pretty screwed up view of the world.

patrickaljord 15y ago

These racists probably wouldn't post their racist coward attacks if they couldn't post them anonymously. Whether you argue with them using your real name or not won't change their opinion and won't change the fact that anonymity allowed them to spew their racists comments in the first place, you're wasting your time. Oh, and if you know who they are and know they attack people violently, you should call the police.

icebraining 15y ago
>These racists probably wouldn't post their racist coward attacks if they couldn't post them anonymously. You don't get out much, do you?
- patrickaljord 15y ago
  I was born in Paris, France. Lived in Syria for 5 years then I got back to Paris and now I live in Arequipa, Peru. How about you dear?
  - prof_hobart 15y ago
    And you still think that violent racist football fans all hide behind anonymous names on the internet? How sweet.
    - patrickaljord 15y ago
      I've never been to an internet forum dedicated to football fans, it sounds like the most terrible way to waste time. But if that's your thing, how sweet.
      - prof_hobart 15y ago
        Unlike commenting on this forum of course. And I notice that your lack of knowledge of the subject didn't stop you commenting on it.
prof_hobart 15y ago
The racists don't post anonymously. Pretty much everyone knows exactly who they are, and the kinds of violence they have been happy to carry out in the past. As for reporting them to the police - several of them are well known to the police and have been done for their crimes in the past. Others - we have no proof of what they do individually, but knowing who they hang around with and what has happened in their groups, it's highly unlikely to all be just talk. My posts may not change their opinions, but it's got a chance of changing the opinions of other people who go to these forums. Being a sports site, there's plenty of impressionable kids going there and if all they read, day after day, is links to stories about blacks or Muslims doing this crime or that crime, without any balance being presented they are going to get a pretty screwed up view of the world.