7 ms·

Given that Parler is primarily associated with alt-right users, this purchase is quite amusing. Yet it underlines how the right to speak freely is under threat

Given that Parler is primarily associated with alt-right users, this purchase is quite amusing. Yet it underlines how the right to speak freely is under threat online and I am not sure if Billionaires further centralizing access is the right way forward.

brutusborn 4y ago
Why is that amusing? It makes sense that the "more free" platforms tend to attract people from the right because highly moderated platforms tend to censor right wing discussion more than left wing discussion. More extreme people are kicked off each platform successively until they end up places like 4chan. The opposite would be true if the mainstream advocated right wing politics, forcing left wing people onto the fringes. Similar to what happened pre-internet with the 60s counterculture, left wing ideas were found in the underground, whilst mainstream media pushed right wing ideas.
- philjohn 4y ago
  Got some examples of right wing discussions that have been moderated?
  - casefields 4y ago
    Lab leak. Got you banned all over the place to discuss until it turned out to be legit. Oops.
    - philjohn 4y ago
      Discussing, or claiming that it was definitely a lab leak? Because the former should be fine, and encouraged, the latter, until it's proved either way, is disinformation.
- dd36 4y ago
  I know my left wing friends would claim the media still is right wing and truly left wing ideas are disallowed. It may be that the left wing was censored and vilified for so long that it ceased existing in the US.
  - brutusborn 4y ago
    What kind of ideas? I guess if you go far enough left then everything is to your right.
    - dd36 4y ago
      Communism, socialism, ending capitalism, etc. Just look at European politics.
      - luckylion 4y ago
        Where on e.g. Twitter or Reddit would that be disallowed? Isn't r/antiwork/ hitting the front page regularly?
        dd36 4y ago
        You named the only two relatively free, large, unmoderated public forums with transparent-able feeds. Well Reddit’s feed is transparent: Lower bound of Wilson score. On Twitter, I only filter for latest, but you cannot do that on Facebook.
        luckylion 4y ago
        Feeds suck, sure, but there's really no censorship for anything about communism etc short of calling for violence against wealthy people. Facebook is less "free" in that regard since they won't allow "all men are trash", which Twitter would only go after if you qualify it with a race that is considered 'protected', and Reddit would probably ignore completely (but "local" mods might not, which makes Reddit take a special role there).
        dementiapatent 4y ago
        I would like to point out that employers are/were permitted to discriminate against these people under federal law: The Equal Rights Act of 1964: https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/title-vii-civil-rights-act-1964 https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/title-vii-civil-rights-act-196... > As used in this subchapter, the phrase "unlawful employment practice" shall not be deemed to include any action or measure taken by an employer, labor organization, joint labor management committee, or employment agency with respect to an individual who is a member of the Communist Party of the United States or of any other organization required to register as a Communist-action or Communist-front organization by final order of the Subversive Activities Control Board pursuant to the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 [50 U.S.C. 781 et seq.].
- _chu1 4y ago
  In my opinion if Antifa can be let on a platform so can neonazis
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- saila 4y ago
  I've seen people on both the "left" and "right" claim that Twitter more heavily moderates "their side." Is there any way to know if either "side" is correct? I doubt Twitter classifies moderated content into political buckets as this would create massive liability, but has any neutral third party studied what kind of content is removed and classified it into "left" vs "right"? I'd like to see the system that could accurately perform such classification at scale, if such a thing is even possible, since no one seems to know exactly what "left" and "right" mean. For example, "liberal" and "left" are often conflated even though hardcore leftists tend to have a healthy disdain for liberals (in the modern, colloquial sense).
  - tstrimple 4y ago
    Actual studies all indicate conservative voices are amplified on social media including Twitter. https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/twitter-algorithm-amplification-right-left-wing-study https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/twitter-algorithm-a...
- npteljes 4y ago
  >whilst mainstream media pushed right wing ideas. I think mainstream now pushes both, which, a bit, depends on what you'd call "mainstream". If "mainstream" is "media watched by millions that thematizes the public discourse", then Fox News and Netflix are both mainstream, and their range of ideas being pushed span wide. I don't see that the mainstream prefers either side, on a worldwide stage. "More extreme people are kicked off each platform successively until they end up places like 4chan." I think extreme expressions are moderated chiefly because it turns a place toxic, and because the owner wouldn't like to be legally liable for things like hate speech or doxxing.
evgen 4y ago
Is it too surprising if I tell you that Candace Owen's husband is the CEO of Parler? Yes, the same Candace Owens that has been advising Kanye West and appeared with him in the matching White Lives Matter t-shirt...
- Loughla 4y ago
  Honestly, this whole Kanye thing has made me sad. (pardon my language for a minute) It's a world of shit taking advantage of someone who plainly needs mental health support and assistance. It's sad to see.
IE6 4y ago
> right to speak freely is under threat online Is it though? A lot of this free speech stuff usually boils down to "I wanted to say the n word on facebook". I'm not aware of any conservatives being arrested by the US government because they advocated for free market capitalism.

brutusborn 4y ago

Why is that amusing? It makes sense that the "more free" platforms tend to attract people from the right because highly moderated platforms tend to censor right wing discussion more than left wing discussion. More extreme people are kicked off each platform successively until they end up places like 4chan. The opposite would be true if the mainstream advocated right wing politics, forcing left wing people onto the fringes. Similar to what happened pre-internet with the 60s counterculture, left wing ideas were found in the underground, whilst mainstream media pushed right wing ideas.

philjohn 4y ago
Got some examples of right wing discussions that have been moderated?
- casefields 4y ago
  Lab leak. Got you banned all over the place to discuss until it turned out to be legit. Oops.
  - philjohn 4y ago
    Discussing, or claiming that it was definitely a lab leak? Because the former should be fine, and encouraged, the latter, until it's proved either way, is disinformation.
dd36 4y ago
I know my left wing friends would claim the media still is right wing and truly left wing ideas are disallowed. It may be that the left wing was censored and vilified for so long that it ceased existing in the US.
- brutusborn 4y ago
  What kind of ideas? I guess if you go far enough left then everything is to your right.
  - dd36 4y ago
    Communism, socialism, ending capitalism, etc. Just look at European politics.
    - luckylion 4y ago
      Where on e.g. Twitter or Reddit would that be disallowed? Isn't r/antiwork/ hitting the front page regularly?
      - dd36 4y ago
        You named the only two relatively free, large, unmoderated public forums with transparent-able feeds. Well Reddit’s feed is transparent: Lower bound of Wilson score. On Twitter, I only filter for latest, but you cannot do that on Facebook.
        luckylion 4y ago
        Feeds suck, sure, but there's really no censorship for anything about communism etc short of calling for violence against wealthy people. Facebook is less "free" in that regard since they won't allow "all men are trash", which Twitter would only go after if you qualify it with a race that is considered 'protected', and Reddit would probably ignore completely (but "local" mods might not, which makes Reddit take a special role there).
      - dementiapatent 4y ago
        I would like to point out that employers are/were permitted to discriminate against these people under federal law: The Equal Rights Act of 1964: https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/title-vii-civil-rights-act-1964 https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/title-vii-civil-rights-act-196... > As used in this subchapter, the phrase "unlawful employment practice" shall not be deemed to include any action or measure taken by an employer, labor organization, joint labor management committee, or employment agency with respect to an individual who is a member of the Communist Party of the United States or of any other organization required to register as a Communist-action or Communist-front organization by final order of the Subversive Activities Control Board pursuant to the Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950 [50 U.S.C. 781 et seq.].
_chu1 4y ago
In my opinion if Antifa can be let on a platform so can neonazis
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
saila 4y ago
I've seen people on both the "left" and "right" claim that Twitter more heavily moderates "their side." Is there any way to know if either "side" is correct? I doubt Twitter classifies moderated content into political buckets as this would create massive liability, but has any neutral third party studied what kind of content is removed and classified it into "left" vs "right"? I'd like to see the system that could accurately perform such classification at scale, if such a thing is even possible, since no one seems to know exactly what "left" and "right" mean. For example, "liberal" and "left" are often conflated even though hardcore leftists tend to have a healthy disdain for liberals (in the modern, colloquial sense).
- tstrimple 4y ago
  Actual studies all indicate conservative voices are amplified on social media including Twitter. https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/twitter-algorithm-amplification-right-left-wing-study https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/twitter-algorithm-a...
npteljes 4y ago
>whilst mainstream media pushed right wing ideas. I think mainstream now pushes both, which, a bit, depends on what you'd call "mainstream". If "mainstream" is "media watched by millions that thematizes the public discourse", then Fox News and Netflix are both mainstream, and their range of ideas being pushed span wide. I don't see that the mainstream prefers either side, on a worldwide stage. "More extreme people are kicked off each platform successively until they end up places like 4chan." I think extreme expressions are moderated chiefly because it turns a place toxic, and because the owner wouldn't like to be legally liable for things like hate speech or doxxing.

evgen 4y ago

Is it too surprising if I tell you that Candace Owen's husband is the CEO of Parler? Yes, the same Candace Owens that has been advising Kanye West and appeared with him in the matching White Lives Matter t-shirt...

Loughla 4y ago
Honestly, this whole Kanye thing has made me sad. (pardon my language for a minute) It's a world of shit taking advantage of someone who plainly needs mental health support and assistance. It's sad to see.

IE6 4y ago

> right to speak freely is under threat online Is it though? A lot of this free speech stuff usually boils down to "I wanted to say the n word on facebook". I'm not aware of any conservatives being arrested by the US government because they advocated for free market capitalism.