3 ms·

This isn't only a free speech issue. Nazis are using social networking sites to recruit, organize and build political strength. In the current economic climat

by brl 17y ago

This isn't only a free speech issue. Nazis are using social networking sites to recruit, organize and build political strength. In the current economic climate, the threat of white supremacist idiots being able to pull their shit together is something to take seriously.

tptacek 17y ago
There's a distinction to be drawn between espousing a worldview and organizing direct action. We don't know what Facebook would do if confronted with evidence that a violent group was organizing and energizing itself through their service. All we have are people drawing lines of varying thicknesses and curvatures between ideas, actors, and projections.
- brl 17y ago
  Many right-wing extremist groups organize on Facebook. They organize camping trips, rallies, birthday parties, and sometimes they even organize illegal direct action. I don't know if Facebook should step in or not because the profiles of these groups are a goldmine of information about their activities. What I do believe however is that any decision to let them continue existing on Facebook should not be made on the basis of respecting their free speech or assembly rights.
  - tptacek 17y ago
    You clearly know more about this than I do. So, people tell Facebook, "these people are organizing an attack on a grocer like in Romper Stomper", and Facebook leaves them there?
    - brl 17y ago
      Mainly they use Facebook for organizing perfectly legal events, as well as keeping in touch with other Nazis. Regarding illegal activity, incitement would be a better way to describe what I've seen than blatant organizing. The loose cannons among them (of which there are plenty) also have a propensity to use social networking sites for self-incrimination. Here's a guy that uploaded pictures to Facebook of himself Nazi saluting in front of worlds-lamest-hate-crime: http://anti-racistcanada.blogspot.com/2009/02/meet-richard-martin.html http://anti-racistcanada.blogspot.com/2009/02/meet-richard-m...

by brl 17y ago

tptacek 17y ago

There's a distinction to be drawn between espousing a worldview and organizing direct action. We don't know what Facebook would do if confronted with evidence that a violent group was organizing and energizing itself through their service. All we have are people drawing lines of varying thicknesses and curvatures between ideas, actors, and projections.

brl 17y ago
Many right-wing extremist groups organize on Facebook. They organize camping trips, rallies, birthday parties, and sometimes they even organize illegal direct action. I don't know if Facebook should step in or not because the profiles of these groups are a goldmine of information about their activities. What I do believe however is that any decision to let them continue existing on Facebook should not be made on the basis of respecting their free speech or assembly rights.
- tptacek 17y ago
  You clearly know more about this than I do. So, people tell Facebook, "these people are organizing an attack on a grocer like in Romper Stomper", and Facebook leaves them there?
  - brl 17y ago
    Mainly they use Facebook for organizing perfectly legal events, as well as keeping in touch with other Nazis. Regarding illegal activity, incitement would be a better way to describe what I've seen than blatant organizing. The loose cannons among them (of which there are plenty) also have a propensity to use social networking sites for self-incrimination. Here's a guy that uploaded pictures to Facebook of himself Nazi saluting in front of worlds-lamest-hate-crime: http://anti-racistcanada.blogspot.com/2009/02/meet-richard-martin.html http://anti-racistcanada.blogspot.com/2009/02/meet-richard-m...