4 ms·

Hacker News only works because it is heavily censored.

by jay_kyburz 2y ago

verdverm 2y ago
Censorship is a government activity Moderation is a private entity activity
- VancouverMan 2y ago
  Those distinctions have absolutely no basis in reality. Censorship is merely the act of limiting access to information. It doesn't matter who is doing this. Yes, governments often do it, but so can private entities. An individual can even do it to himself, in the form of self-censorship. Moderation is the application of censorship in order to modify a discussion. Once again, anyone could potentially do this, including governments. An individual can do this to himself, too, by selectively choosing which parts of a discussion to consume.
- seoulmetro 2y ago
  No. Censorship is the decision to remove. Moderation is the deduction to remove. Hackernews is censored fairly strongly, and moderated "ok".
  - verdverm 2y ago
    What topics do you find are "censored" from HN? Who do you think is doing this?
    - seoulmetro 2y ago
      Dang personally censors and endorses censorship on this forum. If a thread gets too many replies it is censored. If dang finds your comment personally offensive but it's not against the rules, it will be removed. It's a fine line between moderation and censorship unfortunately.
      - verdverm 2y ago
        I imagine you are taking things too personally https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41252028 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41252028 I've been timed out by dang for inciting flamewars, I took my time out like an adult and learned to improve my communication If you don't like the moderation policies of HN, there are plenty of other places you can make comments. Continuing on your "censorship" opinion is likely to earn you more downvotes and flags from other users
        seoulmetro 2y ago
        I'm unsure why you think me pointing out that there exists censorship here is a cause for me to leave the site? I didn't take it personally. Censorship exists and dang perpetrates it. Nothing wrong with learning that. >Continuing on your "censorship" opinion is likely to earn you more downvotes and flags from other users Why would I care if people get upset at me understanding something? It's not an opinion. It's a fact. You asked. Why would I not answer objectively? I'm more than happy for you to remain in the dark on this matter if that's what you prefer.
throw10920 2y ago
> Hacker News only works because it is heavily censored. ...by the community, which is not "censored" by most definitions of the word, which almost always refer to a single powerful entity doing the censoring.

Hacker News only works because it is heavily censored.

verdverm 2y ago

Censorship is a government activity Moderation is a private entity activity

VancouverMan 2y ago
Those distinctions have absolutely no basis in reality. Censorship is merely the act of limiting access to information. It doesn't matter who is doing this. Yes, governments often do it, but so can private entities. An individual can even do it to himself, in the form of self-censorship. Moderation is the application of censorship in order to modify a discussion. Once again, anyone could potentially do this, including governments. An individual can do this to himself, too, by selectively choosing which parts of a discussion to consume.
seoulmetro 2y ago
No. Censorship is the decision to remove. Moderation is the deduction to remove. Hackernews is censored fairly strongly, and moderated "ok".
- verdverm 2y ago
  What topics do you find are "censored" from HN? Who do you think is doing this?
  - seoulmetro 2y ago
    Dang personally censors and endorses censorship on this forum. If a thread gets too many replies it is censored. If dang finds your comment personally offensive but it's not against the rules, it will be removed. It's a fine line between moderation and censorship unfortunately.
    - verdverm 2y ago
      I imagine you are taking things too personally https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41252028 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41252028 I've been timed out by dang for inciting flamewars, I took my time out like an adult and learned to improve my communication If you don't like the moderation policies of HN, there are plenty of other places you can make comments. Continuing on your "censorship" opinion is likely to earn you more downvotes and flags from other users
      - seoulmetro 2y ago
        I'm unsure why you think me pointing out that there exists censorship here is a cause for me to leave the site? I didn't take it personally. Censorship exists and dang perpetrates it. Nothing wrong with learning that. >Continuing on your "censorship" opinion is likely to earn you more downvotes and flags from other users Why would I care if people get upset at me understanding something? It's not an opinion. It's a fact. You asked. Why would I not answer objectively? I'm more than happy for you to remain in the dark on this matter if that's what you prefer.

throw10920 2y ago

> Hacker News only works because it is heavily censored. ...by the community, which is not "censored" by most definitions of the word, which almost always refer to a single powerful entity doing the censoring.