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Twitter Suspends 300k Accounts Tied to Terrorism in 2017

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41–50 of 202 posts

Re: Twitter Suspends 300k Accounts Tied to Terrorism in 2017

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Twitter is a business - they are not rounding people up for extermination. This is a poor, and hyperbolic comparison.

They are increasingly a major conduit for speech. Isolating people from Twitter isolates them from their inherent right to speech. This does two things a) sets precedence for future speech limitations and b) makes it harder for us to track people associated with terrorism. Both are bad since they historically lead to more violence.

"Isolating people from Twitter isolates them from their inherent right to speech."

I disagree - are you saying access to a social network like Twitter should be a human right?

Re: Twitter Suspends 300k Accounts Tied to Terrorism in 2017

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're speaking out for the terrorists? I'm struggling to see the point of that quote.

Are these users committing acts of terrorism 140 characters at a time via the Internet?

Yes.

Re: Twitter Suspends 300k Accounts Tied to Terrorism in 2017

#43
post #4

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. Who defines what is considered terrorism and what isn't? Once censorship infrastruc…

Unfortunately, you'll see the American ideal of free speech quickly purged from the Internet as American companies shed their nationalism for profit. The EU does not hold speech as dear as the US. As the EU gains more power, they'll pressure American firms to conform to their laws. Since the firms have EU headquarters, they will. If the American firms wore that mantle with pride (and paid the taxes that go with it),…

Ever since Citizens United the American ideal of free speech has been quite, quite, dead.

Re: Twitter Suspends 300k Accounts Tied to Terrorism in 2017

#44
post #4

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. Who defines what is considered terrorism and what isn't? Once censorship infrastruc…

I'm pretty sure the litmus test is when you're calling for the death and destruction of others, and people are doing it, it's terrorism.

Re: Twitter Suspends 300k Accounts Tied to Terrorism in 2017

#45
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're speaking out for the terrorists? I'm struggling to see the point of that quote.

Yes, I believe even terrorists should be able to say whatever they want. I'd actually prefer them shitposting on twitter rather than killing people.

So you don't agree with laws about hate speech?

Re: Twitter Suspends 300k Accounts Tied to Terrorism in 2017

#46
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree that everyone should have a platform to say anything. Allowing hatred and violence can normalise it. Also, if someone got on a soapbox outside your house and starting preaching violence I don't think you'd be celebrating the exercising of their rights - you'd probably call the police.

> Also, if someone got on a soapbox outside your house and starting preaching violence I don't think you'd be celebrating the exercising of their rights - you'd probably call the police. Sure, except > The company is balancing a commitment to free speech against pressure from policymakers who want to see social media companies do more to fight extremism and hate speech. > [...] > Twitter last year signed a voluntary…

> It seems the pressure is comming from policy makers, not the house owners.

I think you'll find that most people in society would support the motion to attempt to reduce extremism and hate speech. It's not a controversial issue nor do I in any way feel it's trampling on any rights I have.

Re: Twitter Suspends 300k Accounts Tied to Terrorism in 2017

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're speaking out for the terrorists? I'm struggling to see the point of that quote.

Are these users committing acts of terrorism 140 characters at a time via the Internet?

They're attracting them to other forms of communication where they can be further radicalized.

Re: Twitter Suspends 300k Accounts Tied to Terrorism in 2017

#48
post #4

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. Who defines what is considered terrorism and what isn't? Once censorship infrastruc…

Unfortunately, you'll see the American ideal of free speech quickly purged from the Internet as American companies shed their nationalism for profit. The EU does not hold speech as dear as the US. As the EU gains more power, they'll pressure American firms to conform to their laws. Since the firms have EU headquarters, they will. If the American firms wore that mantle with pride (and paid the taxes that go with it),…

No.

I'll bet may salary that the folks at Twitter have no problem deleting ISIS accounts, and would do it irrespective of any impetus from the US Gov.

And the Europeans are considerably more strict on this - they have severe surveillance laws. Sweden inspects every single packet coming in and out of Sweden.

Also - consider the fact that Twitter bans accounts all the time for some really basic stuff. People have been banned for not much, the bar is not high.

Re: Twitter Suspends 300k Accounts Tied to Terrorism in 2017

#49
> The company is balancing a commitment to free speech against pressure from policymakers who want to see social media companies do more to fight extremism and hate speech.

Big issue for today. Both 'free speech' extremes are bad. No two people can agree on a "perfect" middle ground though.

Re: Twitter Suspends 300k Accounts Tied to Terrorism in 2017

#50

I understand why Twitter might not want ISIS accounts on their service but from a national security standpoint, it seems better to have the communication happening on a U.S.-based service like Twitter than some darknet or crypto-centric app.

Agreed, and this should be the retort to any curtailing of free speech in the name of safety. Its the same argument as allowing “the_donald” to exist on Reddit. You will not stop an ideology by denying them a platform. Better to debate them in an open forum, even if they are evil. The only way to counter bad ideas is with good ones.

There was a recent /r/science article that suggested the banning of coontown and fatpeoplehate resulted in less hate on the platform as a whole. Would you argue this hate moved to other avenues of the web? I'd bet some of it did, but some people just stopped being so hateful on the internet once their cesspool went away.

https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/6zg6w6/reddits_ban...

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