5 ms·

So sick of various liberals saying "if you do not fully agree to our censorship regime, you are enabling Nazis". There are other ways to moderate a community.

by powera 3y ago

So sick of various liberals saying "if you do not fully agree to our censorship regime, you are enabling Nazis". There are other ways to moderate a community. But critical thought doesn't get as many clicks as wild accusations.

teg4n_ 3y ago
I mean if you allow Nazis to use your product to support and recruit Nazis you are indeed enabling Nazis. Based on the interview it seems like Chris Best wouldn’t even say they would prevent literal Nazis from using the platform to further their goals.
- brvsft 3y ago
  Lol of course the hypothetical Nazis swarming all over Substack. Next thing you'll tell me Matt Taibbi is one.
  - teg4n_ 3y ago
    I don’t know or really care who Matt Taibbi is. Not sure how they are relevant. The whole scenario Nilay laid out is hypothetical. The product (Substack Notes) is brand new so yea, the Nazis are also hypothetical. Not sure what your point is.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
- mensetmanusman 3y ago
  So Germany enables Nazis because some Nazis exist there and they use their public transportation services (for recruitment)?
  - teg4n_ 3y ago
    Sure? At least germany attempts otherwise. But regardless there is a pretty important difference between a government and a company.
redder23 3y ago
[flagged]
madeofpalk 3y ago
> There are other ways to moderate a community. Substack CEO could not provide this when asked in an interview. Giving a confident 2012-era redit answer of "we are a free speech platform, we will follow the law" would have sufficed, yet he was flummoxed that he was asked whether legal-but-hateful content is allowed on his website. It was a softball question that he answered in the worst possible way.
kstenerud 3y ago
You've missed the point of the metaphor. "Nazi bar" is just colorful language for "shitty people who end up pushing the non-shitty people out simply by being who they are." Any hate group of any political stripes can qualify. This is a well-studied phenomenon by now: - New social media site becomes popular. - Lots of people, including shitty-group people, join up en masse. - Shitty-group people do their shitty stuff and piss the rest of the people off. - Site management does nothing. - Non-shitty people start to leave because they don't want to deal with this shit. - Eventually, your population is now mostly shitty-group people. - You as the site owner are branded as part of that shitty-group (regardless of whether you really are or not). - Advertisers flee because they don't want their reputations tarnished. - Your site loses money and popularity and becomes irrelevant. This isn't some podcaster sounding off to grind his own axe about moderation; this is an interviewer trying to get through to an inexperienced CEO about the major cliff he's about to fall over, driven by market forces because he doesn't understand his customers or the industry.

by powera 3y ago

teg4n_ 3y ago

I mean if you allow Nazis to use your product to support and recruit Nazis you are indeed enabling Nazis. Based on the interview it seems like Chris Best wouldn’t even say they would prevent literal Nazis from using the platform to further their goals.

brvsft 3y ago
Lol of course the hypothetical Nazis swarming all over Substack. Next thing you'll tell me Matt Taibbi is one.
- teg4n_ 3y ago
  I don’t know or really care who Matt Taibbi is. Not sure how they are relevant. The whole scenario Nilay laid out is hypothetical. The product (Substack Notes) is brand new so yea, the Nazis are also hypothetical. Not sure what your point is.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
mensetmanusman 3y ago
So Germany enables Nazis because some Nazis exist there and they use their public transportation services (for recruitment)?
- teg4n_ 3y ago
  Sure? At least germany attempts otherwise. But regardless there is a pretty important difference between a government and a company.

redder23 3y ago

[flagged]

madeofpalk 3y ago

> There are other ways to moderate a community. Substack CEO could not provide this when asked in an interview. Giving a confident 2012-era redit answer of "we are a free speech platform, we will follow the law" would have sufficed, yet he was flummoxed that he was asked whether legal-but-hateful content is allowed on his website. It was a softball question that he answered in the worst possible way.

kstenerud 3y ago

You've missed the point of the metaphor. "Nazi bar" is just colorful language for "shitty people who end up pushing the non-shitty people out simply by being who they are." Any hate group of any political stripes can qualify. This is a well-studied phenomenon by now: - New social media site becomes popular. - Lots of people, including shitty-group people, join up en masse. - Shitty-group people do their shitty stuff and piss the rest of the people off. - Site management does nothing. - Non-shitty people start to leave because they don't want to deal with this shit. - Eventually, your population is now mostly shitty-group people. - You as the site owner are branded as part of that shitty-group (regardless of whether you really are or not). - Advertisers flee because they don't want their reputations tarnished. - Your site loses money and popularity and becomes irrelevant. This isn't some podcaster sounding off to grind his own axe about moderation; this is an interviewer trying to get through to an inexperienced CEO about the major cliff he's about to fall over, driven by market forces because he doesn't understand his customers or the industry.