Reddit bans subreddit group “r/DonaldTrump” • Hacker News Board

Re: Reddit bans subreddit group “r/DonaldTrump”

#251

Post by mullingitover » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 6:54 PM UTC

Twenty years from now we won't talk much about Donald Trump. However, every time we do, the sacking of the US capitol will be the top thing we link to his presidency. Probably the only thing. For many of his supporters, the only thing they will be remembered for is their support of him.

Reddit isn't stupid. This is still sinking in for many, and for those ahead of the curve they're doing everything they can to disassociate themselves from any hint of support or enablement as quickly as possible.

Re: Reddit bans subreddit group “r/DonaldTrump”

#252

Post by cultus » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 6:54 PM UTC

Andrew_nenakhov wrote: post #224

cultus wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Deplatforming works. A few people follow to other sites, but most don't. It also becomes harder to attract new cultists if one is shut out of major services. https://gnet-research.org/2020/05/11/weighing-the-value-and-...

Yes, it is one of the methods used by Russian government to silence the opposition. Though the platforms are usually privately owned, they all 'independently' decide that some content can't be allowed on them. Same will happen with the US. Sad.

Yeah, it's so sad that the poor fascists are being oppressed. They only tried to do a little coup and now everybody is being mean to them and hurting their feelings. Good job posting this under your real name.

Re: Reddit bans subreddit group “r/DonaldTrump”

#253

Post by HDMI_Cable » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 6:55 PM UTC

mr_coleman wrote: post #149

typon wrote: post #12

Irrelevant. Most of the original users of /r/theDonald migrated theDonald.win, which became one of the top websites in the US in terms of traffic. They're behind Cloudflare and constantly DDoSd these days it seems like it. Moreover, they've gotten threats from their ISP that they have to delete certain posts or be shut down. (which seems scary to me) Also, please don't judge me, I just have a morbid curiosity to see…

I love doom scrolling as much as the next guy, just make sure to get some mind bleach. Find a nice fiction podcast or take up electronics. Both sides will consume your mental health if your not careful.

I'm actually looking for a good podcast. Do you have any recommendations?

Re: Reddit bans subreddit group “r/DonaldTrump”

#254

Post by aylmao » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 6:55 PM UTC

Traster wrote: post #51

slg wrote: post #13

The cynic in me can't help but notice that all these platforms are suddenly growing a backbone now that we know Democrats will control both the executive and legislative branches.

I think it's impossible to say. The fact that the capitol got stormed the same day as the democrats won control means it's impossible to disaggregate. It might be a cynical move by Facebook but is it also a cynical move by Betsy Devos? What difference did democrat control make to her?

> What difference did democrat control make to her?

In her case a bigger factor is probably that Trump has also fallen off the grace of a lot of Republicans. The guy is done. He's still massively popular and a threat given his popularity amongst pretty fanatical groups of people, but as far as raw, democratic power he lost his election by a pretty decent margin, and lost the House/Senate for Republicans.

A lot of people who sucked up to him and his rhetoric must be realizing it's time to suck up to someone/something else. He's always attracted an uncomfortable amount of media attention and now that he can't attract political power to remain in office he's a liability rather than an asset.

Re: Reddit bans subreddit group “r/DonaldTrump”

#255

Post by davesque » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 6:55 PM UTC

slg wrote: post #13

The cynic in me can't help but notice that all these platforms are suddenly growing a backbone now that we know Democrats will control both the executive and legislative branches.

Is that necessarily a cynical take on things? Seems actually pretty rational on their part to do that to avoid a potential backlash by the Trump-led government. It was probably a good play that led to a better long-term outcome.

Re: Reddit bans subreddit group “r/DonaldTrump”

#256

Post by zionic » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 6:55 PM UTC

fasteddie31003 wrote: post #36

I just checked out http://thedonald.win/ and it has gotten a lot more extreme since it was moved off Reddit. I think it would have not gotten as extreme if it were in the Reddit ecosystem still.

Oh wow, they broke top-500 US and are about to break top-400

https://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/thedonald.win

Re: Reddit bans subreddit group “r/DonaldTrump”

#257

Post by neogodless » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 6:55 PM UTC

germinalphrase wrote: post #184

neogodless wrote: post #114

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/896/censorship > In general, sedition is defined as trying to overthrow the government with intent and means to bring it about; the Supreme Court, however, has been divided over what constitutes intent and means. > These acts made it a federal crime to speak, write, or print criticisms of the government that were false, scandalous, or malicious. It is frightening to me tha…

One difference, of course, is that despite there being a significant number of ‘trusted’ sources claiming extensive election fraud - there has been near zero evidence presented by these same sources to defend the claims. That alone should be a red flag that the claims are mere assertions rather than statements of fact.

From my perspective, every article on Reuters included the phrase "claimed without evidence" in regards to election fraud. For me, trusting Reuters, that is sufficient information.

From a believer's perspective, articles mentioned affidavits, eye-witness testimony, court cases being filed, and important, trusted people saying something along the lines of "there is evidence the courts are not even considering!" Presumably if that same believer dug deep enough into individual court cases and affidavits and statements by the judges dismissing cases, they may have changed their mind.

But I don't dig that deep, and obviously neither do the believers. We are wired to our inclination of confirmation bias. When we are already programmed and motivated to find evidence of what we already believe, we do not tend to exhaust every option possible to validate it. We stop when we cross the smallest of hurdles of validation.

Re: Reddit bans subreddit group “r/DonaldTrump”

#258

Post by _jal » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 6:55 PM UTC

jakearmitage wrote: post #143

elicash wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"delete certain posts" Presumably violent threats?

Is it OK to silence people now?

Imagine a situation where people are credibly planning an armed assault on, say, Citibank, in public forums.

Do you believe it is OK to disrupt their planning? Do you believe it becomes not-OK if the target of the domestic terror is the seat of our government?

Re: Reddit bans subreddit group “r/DonaldTrump”

#259

Post by BitwiseFool » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 6:55 PM UTC

andrewem wrote: post #232

You know what scares the shit out of me, to use your phrasing? The people on that site murdering me or overthrowing the government, so that they seize power and elections end or become irrelevant. “The free Internet” has value, but it’s not the only thing that has value. When it conflicts with other values, then there has to be a nuanced resolution.

Have you ever spent time on the leftist "tankie" / "Chapo trap house" kind of subreddits? Or the Gen Zedong groups that glorify the purge of landlords during the communist revolution in China? If we are really going to go after such people wanting to violently overthrow the government we can't be ignoring the left when they do it.

Re: Reddit bans subreddit group “r/DonaldTrump”

#260

Post by dragontamer » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 6:55 PM UTC

s3r3nity wrote: post #220

dragontamer wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Groups becoming more extreme when they exodus is fine and part of the calculus. The reason to take it off of Reddit is to prevent more followers from joining up with them. Stormfront is extreme and everyone knows about them. (Literally a white-nationalist website). But without a foothold on Reddit, they lack the ability to gain followers. When LUE was banned from GameFAQs decades ago, they just formed up their own gr…

> Groups becoming more extreme when they exodus is fine and part of the calculus. The reason to take it off of Reddit is to prevent more followers from joining up with them. Is this really any better than religious idealogues burning books that aren't its Bibles, lest people get tempted to reject their faith or question their ideologies? Or North Korea blocking any information about capitalist successes, lest that ca…

"Censorship" seems to work pretty well around here in HackerNews.

When someone's opinion becomes violent or unhelpful, the mods around here will delete their post, curtailing discussion and making this area more reasonable for overall discourse to move forward.

There are unreasonable opinions and unreasonable people out there. The only possible weapon online groups have to combat unreasonable people in a discussion forum, is censorship.

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But sure, feel free to use the decades old arguments of "unmoderated speech" from the days of USENET. Some of us have been around long enough to see this argument style play out over-and-over again.

Again-and-again, the only USEFUL discussion forums are those who are run by good moderators. "Censoring" Spam, pornography, doxxing and yes, censoring calls to overt violence in the real world, is incredibly important to keep online discussions safe.

Cutting out hateful groups is _effective_. Its the weapon of last resort, but given what we've seen this past week, it is a well warranted move. It is no different than a moderator coming around here to delete spam.