6 ms·

I noticed this submission had become "dead" due to flagging, and retaliation for whistleblowing seems like exactly the type of thing that a coordinated group wo

I noticed this submission had become "dead" due to flagging, and retaliation for whistleblowing seems like exactly the type of thing that a coordinated group would try to bury. I vouched for it. I don't have feelings one way or another on who is being wronged, but I thought the information was well-presented and coherent, and deserves consideration without being flagged. If the other party believes this is inaccurate they should present their side here.

Buttons840 4y ago
This reminds me of a paragraph I recently read on another blog: > I’ve been writing for a long time. In 2010, I started a blog, focused on the technology industry—topics included programming languages, organizational practices, and development methodologies—that reached a daily view count of about 8,000 (some days more, some days less) with several essays taking the #1 spot on Hacker News and Reddit (/r/programming). I quit that kind of writing for many reasons, but two merit mention. One: Silicon Valley people are, for lack of a better way to put it, precious about their reputations. My revelations of unethical and illegal business practices in the technology industry put me, literally, in physical danger. Two: since then, my work has become unnecessary. In 2013, my exposures of odious practices in a then-beloved sector of the economy were revelatory. Ten years later, tech chicanery surprises no one, and the relevant investigative work is being done with far more platform, access, and protection. The world no longer needs me to do that job. And thank God. Source: https://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/ https://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/
- packetslave 4y ago
  oh boy...
repeekad 4y ago
Seems it was flagged again, and then was unflagged again? How common are these kind of seemingly coordinated attempts to manipulate HN (assuming there is indeed nothing actually wrong with OP)?
- cbtacy 4y ago
  sadly, very common. See: anything critical about Elon Musk. See: anything about LGBTQ+ issues.
  - cbtacy 4y ago
    I love that this is being downvoted. Nothing validates my point better.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
floatingatoll 4y ago
Thank you for doing so; it led me to see this post, and I appreciate that. I’ll vouch next time if I see it go back to [dead].
- pcthrowaway 4y ago
  Your time to shine. Or can we get a ruling/override @dang ?
  - transRfagz 4y ago
    [dead]
saulrh 4y ago
It's really telling that the frontpage post on the tech-industry forum about coordinated discrimination in the tech industry is being brigaded, yeah. Disappointing, too. I hope we learn what happened here and things are made better.
- transRfagz 4y ago
  [dead]
transRfagz 4y ago
[flagged]
- amatecha 4y ago
  Go cry about your bigoted, pathetic worldview elsewhere.
  - transRfagz 4y ago
    [dead]
desuforever 4y ago
the subreddit which is coordinating these attacks are very blatant, endorsed even by the powermods
jesterman 4y ago
It appears it was flagged again? I can't see it on the first 5 pages of the front pages of HN..
AlbertCory 4y ago
Without taking any position on this post itself or flagging of it: flagging has just become abusive. It needs serious reform, @dang. I can't speak for the original rationale, but it seems like the intent must be to remove posts or comments that are clearly offensive on some semi-legal grounds (obscene, advocating violence, etc.) Now it's become just "I don't like this." There are many possible reforms, but off the top of my head, changing "flag" to be nothing but a suggestion to the mods might fix it. It would do nothing unless a mod agreed. And the flagger's id should be public and it should cost them something (karma points, maybe).
- cbtacy 4y ago
  Reforming "flagging" to make it less open to abuse and brigading is obviously overdue.
- codehitchhiker 4y ago
  100% Flagging stuff because "I don't like this" "it's critical of me or my friend or something I like" should be punished
- TechBro8615 4y ago
  I flagged it because it's exhausting sociopolitical drivel that has nothing to do with tech. If the company discriminated against this person, then prove it in court. Nobody here has sufficient information to make a determination one way or another. And none of us has an obligation to take the author at their word.
  - amatecha 4y ago
    If you don't like it, don't read it. It's on-topic and worth discussing -- maybe not for you, but this story is absolutely not within the criteria of flagging, which is why despite people flagging it, the link remains and will continue to be present on the site.
    - TechBro8615 4y ago
      It's not really on topic. It's a personal grievance of the variety that anyone might have at their job. There's nothing about it that satisfies intellectual curiosity, and as demonstrated by the comments here, it's a topic likely to devolve into a flamewar. This shouldn't be surprising since it's impossible to make any argument from a logical basis. There is simply not enough information available from this one-sided blog post to have a meaningful discussion about it that isn't unfair to one side or the other.

Buttons840 4y ago

This reminds me of a paragraph I recently read on another blog: > I’ve been writing for a long time. In 2010, I started a blog, focused on the technology industry—topics included programming languages, organizational practices, and development methodologies—that reached a daily view count of about 8,000 (some days more, some days less) with several essays taking the #1 spot on Hacker News and Reddit (/r/programming). I quit that kind of writing for many reasons, but two merit mention. One: Silicon Valley people are, for lack of a better way to put it, precious about their reputations. My revelations of unethical and illegal business practices in the technology industry put me, literally, in physical danger. Two: since then, my work has become unnecessary. In 2013, my exposures of odious practices in a then-beloved sector of the economy were revelatory. Ten years later, tech chicanery surprises no one, and the relevant investigative work is being done with far more platform, access, and protection. The world no longer needs me to do that job. And thank God. Source: https://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/ https://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/

packetslave 4y ago
oh boy...

repeekad 4y ago

Seems it was flagged again, and then was unflagged again? How common are these kind of seemingly coordinated attempts to manipulate HN (assuming there is indeed nothing actually wrong with OP)?

cbtacy 4y ago
sadly, very common. See: anything critical about Elon Musk. See: anything about LGBTQ+ issues.
- cbtacy 4y ago
  I love that this is being downvoted. Nothing validates my point better.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]

floatingatoll 4y ago

Thank you for doing so; it led me to see this post, and I appreciate that. I’ll vouch next time if I see it go back to [dead].

pcthrowaway 4y ago
Your time to shine. Or can we get a ruling/override @dang ?
- transRfagz 4y ago
  [dead]

saulrh 4y ago

It's really telling that the frontpage post on the tech-industry forum about coordinated discrimination in the tech industry is being brigaded, yeah. Disappointing, too. I hope we learn what happened here and things are made better.

transRfagz 4y ago
[dead]

transRfagz 4y ago

[flagged]

amatecha 4y ago
Go cry about your bigoted, pathetic worldview elsewhere.
- transRfagz 4y ago
  [dead]

desuforever 4y ago

the subreddit which is coordinating these attacks are very blatant, endorsed even by the powermods

jesterman 4y ago

It appears it was flagged again? I can't see it on the first 5 pages of the front pages of HN..

AlbertCory 4y ago

Without taking any position on this post itself or flagging of it: flagging has just become abusive. It needs serious reform, @dang. I can't speak for the original rationale, but it seems like the intent must be to remove posts or comments that are clearly offensive on some semi-legal grounds (obscene, advocating violence, etc.) Now it's become just "I don't like this." There are many possible reforms, but off the top of my head, changing "flag" to be nothing but a suggestion to the mods might fix it. It would do nothing unless a mod agreed. And the flagger's id should be public and it should cost them something (karma points, maybe).

cbtacy 4y ago
Reforming "flagging" to make it less open to abuse and brigading is obviously overdue.
codehitchhiker 4y ago
100% Flagging stuff because "I don't like this" "it's critical of me or my friend or something I like" should be punished
TechBro8615 4y ago
I flagged it because it's exhausting sociopolitical drivel that has nothing to do with tech. If the company discriminated against this person, then prove it in court. Nobody here has sufficient information to make a determination one way or another. And none of us has an obligation to take the author at their word.
- amatecha 4y ago
  If you don't like it, don't read it. It's on-topic and worth discussing -- maybe not for you, but this story is absolutely not within the criteria of flagging, which is why despite people flagging it, the link remains and will continue to be present on the site.
  - TechBro8615 4y ago
    It's not really on topic. It's a personal grievance of the variety that anyone might have at their job. There's nothing about it that satisfies intellectual curiosity, and as demonstrated by the comments here, it's a topic likely to devolve into a flamewar. This shouldn't be surprising since it's impossible to make any argument from a logical basis. There is simply not enough information available from this one-sided blog post to have a meaningful discussion about it that isn't unfair to one side or the other.