5 ms·

There Are Dark Corners of the Internet. Then There's 764

46 points by laurex 3y ago

appplication 3y ago
There is an interesting question here why major platforms have such a hard time stopping violent groups of people from joining together and committing violent acts. Our current, corporately-decided approach to online moderation is clearly not up to the task. It does make you wonder if government intervention would be more effective.
- metalcrow 3y ago
  I doubt so, pretty much every US government based system is inferior to it's private sector equivalent. Even regulations on this would be difficult because you're not just fighting against the sheer volume of posts constantly needing to be checked, but also against privacy concerns, since "this corporation is constantly watching everything you post" is both a mandatory requirement and largely seen as bad.
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    > pretty much every US government based system is inferior to it's private sector equivalent. I don't think this holds as a rule. I see as many counterexamples to it as examples, anyway. But it does seem true that there are certain things the private sector tends to do better at, and there are other things the private sector tends to do worse at.
ted_bunny 3y ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20240314001606/https://www.wired.com/story/764-com-child-predator-network/ https://web.archive.org/web/20240314001606/https://www.wired...
pizzaknife 3y ago
whhhaaattt the hell did i just read
rnd0 3y ago
All I can say is: 'holy shit'. I'm glad I'm not a kid these days!
dr_kiszonka 3y ago
I am genuinely curious what a run-of-the-mill SWE or data scientist can do to help fight this (and human trafficking, etc.). Are there any volunteering opportunities?
devwastaken 3y ago
The Internet was never meant to be exposed to children. No one would let their child go to an effectively unmoderated random place to converse with anonymous strangers that are knowingly grooming children. Country wide ban on Internet access to minors is necessary to significantly mitigate the negative impact the internet is causing youth today, and the destruction of legitimate adult spaces on the net. The solution is simple - any user interfaceable computing device expected to be sold to a minor must be child locked by default. This lock identifies the device as a minor, blocking most ads, "social media" apps, in app purchases, other maliciously sold apps, and filters the available domains in browser to a simple whitelist. Remove any kind of parental "monitoring" and control nonsense that are so often abused. Don't make it necessary in the first place! It's only a scapegoat so they don't have to do the right thing. The whitelist is simple, buy it off of one of a dozen existing commercial solutions. Unlocking a phone is also simple and non invasive by showing ID during purchase. Same way you have to do any other kind of business with malicious business practices.
- gruez 3y ago
  >The solution is simple - any user interfaceable computing device expected to be sold to a minor must be child locked by default. [...] Kids aren't heading to the local Apple Store for their iphones. They're getting them from their parents. Parental controls exist today. The problem is the lack of willingness from parents to monitor their kids' behavior, not the fact that you can buy an unrestricted communications device without photo id.
  - pizzaknife 3y ago
    this. generally speaking i remember being exposed to questionable material on bbs' via a 2600 baud connection and xmodem "ui". i believe i was around 11 at the time. i remind/routinely impress our progeny several times a day (quite candidly as well, my SO and i are very honest and frank w our offspring) that "the internet" is both impressive and dangerous and to essentially never assume good intent. sop i had and i made it through. gl out there parents
    - 3y ago
subjectsigma 3y ago
Life in prison? What do we lose by giving these people lethal injections? They would die relatively painlessly and nothing of value would be lost. Taxpayer money wouldn’t have to support them. Unless we’re studying their brains or something, I say get ‘em out of here. Not every criminal serving life deserves the death penalty, but these guys sure do.
- harimau777 3y ago
  One issue would be the possibility of wrongful convictions.
- butlike 3y ago
  If we go under the definition of "Life in prison" as it stands, with no real effort on rehabilitation, sure. Kill 'em. Otherwise I'm paying taxes to feed a sadistic child molester and killer. But I think there might be another way. With refocusing on rehabilitation, a society could glean 'n' years of insight, understanding, and ideally: a changed human. The staunchest of advocates against what they used to practice.
derelicta 3y ago
Considering there are now articles about them online, I doubt their little "enterprise" will remain active for much longer. If they are not stupid, they will cease everything before Feds knock at their door.

46 points by laurex 3y ago

There is an interesting question here why major platforms have such a hard time stopping violent groups of people from joining together and committing violent acts. Our current, corporately-decided approach to online moderation is clearly not up to the task. It does make you wonder if government intervention would be more effective.

metalcrow 3y ago
I doubt so, pretty much every US government based system is inferior to it's private sector equivalent. Even regulations on this would be difficult because you're not just fighting against the sheer volume of posts constantly needing to be checked, but also against privacy concerns, since "this corporation is constantly watching everything you post" is both a mandatory requirement and largely seen as bad.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  > pretty much every US government based system is inferior to it's private sector equivalent. I don't think this holds as a rule. I see as many counterexamples to it as examples, anyway. But it does seem true that there are certain things the private sector tends to do better at, and there are other things the private sector tends to do worse at.

ted_bunny 3y ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20240314001606/https://www.wired.com/story/764-com-child-predator-network/ https://web.archive.org/web/20240314001606/https://www.wired...

pizzaknife 3y ago

whhhaaattt the hell did i just read

rnd0 3y ago

All I can say is: 'holy shit'. I'm glad I'm not a kid these days!

dr_kiszonka 3y ago

I am genuinely curious what a run-of-the-mill SWE or data scientist can do to help fight this (and human trafficking, etc.). Are there any volunteering opportunities?

devwastaken 3y ago

The Internet was never meant to be exposed to children. No one would let their child go to an effectively unmoderated random place to converse with anonymous strangers that are knowingly grooming children. Country wide ban on Internet access to minors is necessary to significantly mitigate the negative impact the internet is causing youth today, and the destruction of legitimate adult spaces on the net. The solution is simple - any user interfaceable computing device expected to be sold to a minor must be child locked by default. This lock identifies the device as a minor, blocking most ads, "social media" apps, in app purchases, other maliciously sold apps, and filters the available domains in browser to a simple whitelist. Remove any kind of parental "monitoring" and control nonsense that are so often abused. Don't make it necessary in the first place! It's only a scapegoat so they don't have to do the right thing. The whitelist is simple, buy it off of one of a dozen existing commercial solutions. Unlocking a phone is also simple and non invasive by showing ID during purchase. Same way you have to do any other kind of business with malicious business practices.

gruez 3y ago
>The solution is simple - any user interfaceable computing device expected to be sold to a minor must be child locked by default. [...] Kids aren't heading to the local Apple Store for their iphones. They're getting them from their parents. Parental controls exist today. The problem is the lack of willingness from parents to monitor their kids' behavior, not the fact that you can buy an unrestricted communications device without photo id.
- pizzaknife 3y ago
  this. generally speaking i remember being exposed to questionable material on bbs' via a 2600 baud connection and xmodem "ui". i believe i was around 11 at the time. i remind/routinely impress our progeny several times a day (quite candidly as well, my SO and i are very honest and frank w our offspring) that "the internet" is both impressive and dangerous and to essentially never assume good intent. sop i had and i made it through. gl out there parents
  - 3y ago

subjectsigma 3y ago

Life in prison? What do we lose by giving these people lethal injections? They would die relatively painlessly and nothing of value would be lost. Taxpayer money wouldn’t have to support them. Unless we’re studying their brains or something, I say get ‘em out of here. Not every criminal serving life deserves the death penalty, but these guys sure do.

harimau777 3y ago
One issue would be the possibility of wrongful convictions.
butlike 3y ago
If we go under the definition of "Life in prison" as it stands, with no real effort on rehabilitation, sure. Kill 'em. Otherwise I'm paying taxes to feed a sadistic child molester and killer. But I think there might be another way. With refocusing on rehabilitation, a society could glean 'n' years of insight, understanding, and ideally: a changed human. The staunchest of advocates against what they used to practice.

derelicta 3y ago

Considering there are now articles about them online, I doubt their little "enterprise" will remain active for much longer. If they are not stupid, they will cease everything before Feds knock at their door.