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Ask HN: We're being censored. Why?

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21–30 of 55 posts

Re: Ask HN: We're being censored. Why?

#22

I don't know why people flagged that link, but I'll tell you why I'm flagging this one: because you have to have flagging or crap takes over the site, and if you also allow protest posts from people upset about things that got flagged, then those take over the site. I don't complain in Ask HN posts when stuff I upvoted is flagged off the frontpage. If you have a problem with moderation, email the moderators, like eve…

I don't have an issue with flagging dumb stories.

I have an issue with flagging active and important stories, hiding upvoted comments, silently de-ranking stories without any notification, etc.

Straw-man all you like, there's no justification for this.

Re: Ask HN: We're being censored. Why?

#23

This type of behavior should have been expected from the day HN announced they weren't allowing political news on their site, just over a year ago. It's pretty irresponsible: Primary news outlet for an industry that is already noticeably lacking in social and political responsibility decides to put up another set of blinders. Low EQ Silicon Valley refuses to use its influence to affect political change in any meaning…

"No politics" was an experiment that lasted less than a week. It was clearly labeled as an experiment at the time. I don't think that it's current HN policy.

Re: Ask HN: We're being censored. Why?

#24

I don't know why people flagged that link, but I'll tell you why I'm flagging this one: because you have to have flagging or crap takes over the site, and if you also allow protest posts from people upset about things that got flagged, then those take over the site. I don't complain in Ask HN posts when stuff I upvoted is flagged off the frontpage. If you have a problem with moderation, email the moderators, like eve…

By flagging this thread you are effectively suppressing a very important discussion about the tech community's roles and responsibilities in the social and political worlds. As I mentioned in another comment, this industry tends to eschew political awareness. Which is ironic, because that passivity enables some of the biggest issues that we in the tech industry oppose (surveillance, irresponsible data collection, etc). There is real, visible, connective tissue between politics and technology and while ignoring may be the most comfortable thing to do, it's also the most irresponsible.

Re: Ask HN: We're being censored. Why?

#25

This type of behavior should have been expected from the day HN announced they weren't allowing political news on their site, just over a year ago. It's pretty irresponsible: Primary news outlet for an industry that is already noticeably lacking in social and political responsibility decides to put up another set of blinders. Low EQ Silicon Valley refuses to use its influence to affect political change in any meaning…

"No politics" was an experiment that lasted less than a week. It was clearly labeled as an experiment at the time. I don't think that it's current HN policy.

Is the experiment really over when politically-adjacent threads are still getting flagbombed and removed? Just because it's not in the site guidelines doesn't mean it's not being actively enforced.

Re: Ask HN: We're being censored. Why?

#26

I don't know why people flagged that link, but I'll tell you why I'm flagging this one: because you have to have flagging or crap takes over the site, and if you also allow protest posts from people upset about things that got flagged, then those take over the site. I don't complain in Ask HN posts when stuff I upvoted is flagged off the frontpage. If you have a problem with moderation, email the moderators, like eve…

By flagging this thread you are effectively suppressing a very important discussion about the tech community's roles and responsibilities in the social and political worlds. As I mentioned in another comment, this industry tends to eschew political awareness. Which is ironic, because that passivity enables some of the biggest issues that we in the tech industry oppose (surveillance, irresponsible data collection, etc…

Thank you for your support.

I also believe this is a terribly important topic to discuss, with special relevance for the HN community (not that I need to prove that, the number of comments speaks for itself).

I have emailed the mods, and will update with the reply I get (if I don't end up banned).

Re: Ask HN: We're being censored. Why?

#27
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By flagging this thread you are effectively suppressing a very important discussion about the tech community's roles and responsibilities in the social and political worlds. As I mentioned in another comment, this industry tends to eschew political awareness. Which is ironic, because that passivity enables some of the biggest issues that we in the tech industry oppose (surveillance, irresponsible data collection, etc…

Thank you for your support. I also believe this is a terribly important topic to discuss, with special relevance for the HN community (not that I need to prove that, the number of comments speaks for itself). I have emailed the mods, and will update with the reply I get (if I don't end up banned).

Do you know where to find their emails? I'd like to weigh in as well.

Re: Ask HN: We're being censored. Why?

#29
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for your support. I also believe this is a terribly important topic to discuss, with special relevance for the HN community (not that I need to prove that, the number of comments speaks for itself). I have emailed the mods, and will update with the reply I get (if I don't end up banned).

Do you know where to find their emails? I'd like to weigh in as well.

Our email address is all over the place but the best way to find it is via https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html, so you get a refresher on the site rules before you email us. Sometimes a question will answer itself along the way.

Re: Ask HN: We're being censored. Why?

#30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"No politics" was an experiment that lasted less than a week. It was clearly labeled as an experiment at the time. I don't think that it's current HN policy.

Is the experiment really over when politically-adjacent threads are still getting flagbombed and removed? Just because it's not in the site guidelines doesn't mean it's not being actively enforced.

OK, but you talked about "the day HN announced". That's different from user behavior. (And I'm not sure user behavior changed all that much. People flagged political threads before the short-lived official ban, too.)
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