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Deplatforming hate forums doesn't work, British boffins warn

• jfengel 4y ago
  "Deplatforming users may reduce activity and toxicity levels of relevant actors on Twitter and Reddit, limit the spread of conspiratorial disinformation on Facebook, and minimize disinformation and extreme speech on YouTube," they write in their paper. "But deplatforming has often made hate groups and individuals even more extreme, toxic and radicalized." That seems a big claim to make without a control. Radicalization was increasing before "deplatforming" became a thing. Deplatforming is a response to it. It's certainly not the initial cause, and this paper doesn't show that it contributes to it. It can only note the correlation, not the causation. Deplatforming certainly is insufficient, but I don't really know what's effective (if anything). I do know that it's not helpful to say "Let's not do anything to protect people until we've solved the underlying issue."