4 ms·

The moderators of /r/melbourne, in the lead up to a state election in which the right-of-centre's main campaigning point was crime reduction outright banned the

The moderators of /r/melbourne, in the lead up to a state election in which the right-of-centre's main campaigning point was crime reduction outright banned the posting of any crime related news. Make of that what you will. https://www.reddit.com/r/melbourne/comments/7pmjwx/all_melbourne_crime_posts_to_be_directed_to/ https://www.reddit.com/r/melbourne/comments/7pmjwx/all_melbo...

monkeydreams 4y ago
As a subscriber to this sub-reddit, the constant spamming of stories relating to people of particular ethnicities committing crimes was annoying. It became a constant drum to summon to action racist trolls and idiots.
- jpgvm 4y ago
  That and it was attracting a ton of undesirables to the sub that don't even live in Melbourne. It's been immeasurably better since that rule was introduced. There is plenty of other places for that sort of thing already.
opportune 4y ago
On one hand censorship is bad, on the other crime in particular is an easy way for non-locals to astroturf or disrupt local communities because they can just grab a news article and argue on the basis of generic talking points. I think it’s absolutely the case that this is regularly happening in many Reddit communities already, I’ve seen it first hand in the San Francisco and Bay Area subreddits. IMO the engagement optimization problem in social media is driving the increasing share of crime discussions online. Yes crime is getting worse in some areas, but I think crime just heavily drives engagement (which news media has known for a long time). With more conservatives going online, we’re seeing a bifurcation of traditional (cancel or callout culture, some kind of injustice) outrage porn - more common in the past when the internet leaned younger and more educated/urban - and now crime-related outrage porn that appeals to the right wing.

monkeydreams 4y ago

As a subscriber to this sub-reddit, the constant spamming of stories relating to people of particular ethnicities committing crimes was annoying. It became a constant drum to summon to action racist trolls and idiots.

jpgvm 4y ago
That and it was attracting a ton of undesirables to the sub that don't even live in Melbourne. It's been immeasurably better since that rule was introduced. There is plenty of other places for that sort of thing already.

opportune 4y ago

On one hand censorship is bad, on the other crime in particular is an easy way for non-locals to astroturf or disrupt local communities because they can just grab a news article and argue on the basis of generic talking points. I think it’s absolutely the case that this is regularly happening in many Reddit communities already, I’ve seen it first hand in the San Francisco and Bay Area subreddits. IMO the engagement optimization problem in social media is driving the increasing share of crime discussions online. Yes crime is getting worse in some areas, but I think crime just heavily drives engagement (which news media has known for a long time). With more conservatives going online, we’re seeing a bifurcation of traditional (cancel or callout culture, some kind of injustice) outrage porn - more common in the past when the internet leaned younger and more educated/urban - and now crime-related outrage porn that appeals to the right wing.