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Reddit bans R/WhitePeopleTwitter after Elon Musk claimed it had 'broken the law'

8 points by nico 2y ago

nico 2y ago
As of 10:30pm Pacific time, the subreddit is still banned: https://www.reddit.com/r/WhitePeopleTwitter/ https://www.reddit.com/r/WhitePeopleTwitter/
anigbrowl 2y ago
Much free, very speech. Musk is lying, of course. As people working for what has been declared an official government department, DOGE employees have no expectation of privacy in the performance of their duties.
- TacticalCoder 2y ago
  [dead]
- blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
  They do have an expectation of being free from threats against them, which is what was happening on that subreddit apparently.
  - anigbrowl 2y ago
    I'm not endorsing threats. But publishing their identities is absolutely protected speech.
reptilian 2y ago
No fan of Musk, but the mods actively re-added posts that had been auto-modded out doxxing and calling for the killing of some pretty talented young engineers. That is not an Elon Musk claim. That is legitimate illegality.
ZeroGravitas 2y ago
Like many recent stories, there's so much BS going around it's hard to keep track. Musk has been saying people have "broken the law" just for naming these people. Which seems bad (because we shouldn't have anonymous people doing what looks like criminal acts under the orders of oligarchs) and hypocritical since a big part of his DOGE work so far has been naming and shaming government employees for doing their actual legal jobs and making up elaborate lies about what they are doing. The argument has now apparently moved on to whether we can threaten people who are secretly breaking the law at the behest of oligarchs. But, I'm suspicious that these anonymous online death threats were actually made by Musk supporters to shift the discussion. A "false flag" if you will, as murdering even right-wing, privileged-background volunteer saboteurs of basic government services seems somewhat kneejerk even for the famously "death threats at the drop of a hat" anonymous internet crowd.
- reptilian 2y ago
  They were made and promoted by the Mods of that subreddit - who actively over-rode the AutoMod protections that limit Hate Speech and calls for violence. Musk is their least favourite person. To say it was Musk creating his own "false flag" is ludicrous if you've ever spent five minutes on that subreddit. No fan of musk, but doxxing and death threats against some of America's most talented young engineers is not a good thing, no matter how you spin it. Example - One of the engineers is well known for working out how to decipher burnt scrolls from Pompeii, winning the Vesuvius prize. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpflT8XuSyg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpflT8XuSyg
- ben_w 2y ago
  > But, I'm suspicious that these anonymous online death threats were actually made by Musk supporters to shift the discussion. A "false flag" if you will, as murdering even right-wing, privileged-background volunteer saboteurs of basic government services seems somewhat kneejerk even for the famously "death threats at the drop of a hat" anonymous internet crowd. Surely the fact that such threats have long been made at the drop of a hat is a reason to just assume any new ones were made with all the same (high or low) sincerity as those before them, rather than being a false flag?
ben_w 2y ago
I'm not a free speech absolutist, precisely because of things like this. This is also why I was appalled what I saw in the Capitol riots four years ago, with the chants to hang the then Vice President, which Trump was reportedly fine with. Words lead to actions — if they didn't there wouldn't be a reason to support free speech in the first place — but also (and unlike the US government) I am strongly against the death penalty, and even more strongly against vigilante action (if you think American police violence is out of control, you'll be very upset by a return to literal lynching).
nico 2y ago
BBC article here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42948849 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42948849

8 points by nico 2y ago

nico 2y ago

As of 10:30pm Pacific time, the subreddit is still banned: https://www.reddit.com/r/WhitePeopleTwitter/ https://www.reddit.com/r/WhitePeopleTwitter/

anigbrowl 2y ago

Much free, very speech. Musk is lying, of course. As people working for what has been declared an official government department, DOGE employees have no expectation of privacy in the performance of their duties.

TacticalCoder 2y ago
[dead]
blackeyeblitzar 2y ago
They do have an expectation of being free from threats against them, which is what was happening on that subreddit apparently.
- anigbrowl 2y ago
  I'm not endorsing threats. But publishing their identities is absolutely protected speech.

reptilian 2y ago

No fan of Musk, but the mods actively re-added posts that had been auto-modded out doxxing and calling for the killing of some pretty talented young engineers. That is not an Elon Musk claim. That is legitimate illegality.

ZeroGravitas 2y ago

Like many recent stories, there's so much BS going around it's hard to keep track. Musk has been saying people have "broken the law" just for naming these people. Which seems bad (because we shouldn't have anonymous people doing what looks like criminal acts under the orders of oligarchs) and hypocritical since a big part of his DOGE work so far has been naming and shaming government employees for doing their actual legal jobs and making up elaborate lies about what they are doing. The argument has now apparently moved on to whether we can threaten people who are secretly breaking the law at the behest of oligarchs. But, I'm suspicious that these anonymous online death threats were actually made by Musk supporters to shift the discussion. A "false flag" if you will, as murdering even right-wing, privileged-background volunteer saboteurs of basic government services seems somewhat kneejerk even for the famously "death threats at the drop of a hat" anonymous internet crowd.

reptilian 2y ago
They were made and promoted by the Mods of that subreddit - who actively over-rode the AutoMod protections that limit Hate Speech and calls for violence. Musk is their least favourite person. To say it was Musk creating his own "false flag" is ludicrous if you've ever spent five minutes on that subreddit. No fan of musk, but doxxing and death threats against some of America's most talented young engineers is not a good thing, no matter how you spin it. Example - One of the engineers is well known for working out how to decipher burnt scrolls from Pompeii, winning the Vesuvius prize. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpflT8XuSyg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpflT8XuSyg
ben_w 2y ago
> But, I'm suspicious that these anonymous online death threats were actually made by Musk supporters to shift the discussion. A "false flag" if you will, as murdering even right-wing, privileged-background volunteer saboteurs of basic government services seems somewhat kneejerk even for the famously "death threats at the drop of a hat" anonymous internet crowd. Surely the fact that such threats have long been made at the drop of a hat is a reason to just assume any new ones were made with all the same (high or low) sincerity as those before them, rather than being a false flag?

ben_w 2y ago

I'm not a free speech absolutist, precisely because of things like this. This is also why I was appalled what I saw in the Capitol riots four years ago, with the chants to hang the then Vice President, which Trump was reportedly fine with. Words lead to actions — if they didn't there wouldn't be a reason to support free speech in the first place — but also (and unlike the US government) I am strongly against the death penalty, and even more strongly against vigilante action (if you think American police violence is out of control, you'll be very upset by a return to literal lynching).

nico 2y ago

BBC article here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42948849 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42948849