Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump • Hacker News Board

Re: Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump

#671

Post by blendergeek » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 12:45 AM UTC

mrchess wrote: post #177

Rebelgecko wrote: post #54

Is it just my perception, or is their actual justification using the 2 quoted tweets kinda weak? Interpreting his boycott of an event as a call to violence seems like a huge stretch. It seems like they wanted to shoehorn a justification using his 2 latest tweets when the actual reason goes back further.

When I saw the cryptic 1 sentence tweet that he wasn't going to be there, the first thing that came to mind was that he was telling his supporters indirectly that they could do whatever they wanted since he wouldn't be in harms way. So perhaps it is a huge stretch to some, but we need to remember it is also not a stretch at all to many, especially given the recent events. Therein lies the danger.

I saw the tweet as acknowledgement that Biden will be president. I have never once thought the Trump would attend Biden's inauguration as that doesn't seem in character for him. I think that Twitter does themself a disfavor by using such weak evidence of Trump's violations of the terms of service.

Re: Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump

#672

Post by johnzim » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 12:45 AM UTC

bilbo0s wrote: post #612

oceanplexian wrote: post #537

IMHO there are things that are much more scary than some trespassing into government buildings or a riot. The possibility that we might slide backwards from traditionally liberal ideas spawned from the enlightenment is utterly terrifying. And we are rapidly heading in that direction.

Liberal ideas from the enlightenment are alive and well. Now if the government had banned Trump from speaking, then you would have a point. Twitter banning Trump is, at root, a business making a business decision. Here's reality, and I'm going to date myself here, but there were, long ago, enormously popular digital spaces called BBS's. You could chat, play games (MUDs mostly), etc etc. They are, by and large, no lon…

I agree in some respects but comparing the nature of the internet today compared to the internet we remembered back in the 90s, it’s abundantly clear that consolidation and centralization are significant forces.

We’re not really making the same progress on decentralizing the web that we thought we would. Is it really that difficult to see further consolidation as the most likely outcome?

Re: Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump

#673

Post by notahacker » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 12:46 AM UTC

NicoJuicy wrote: post #577

llcoolv wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

"it's confirmed that it's antifa" is one of the most delusional things I've seen. All the ones identified and arrested are obvious Trump and qAnon supporters.

To be fair, it's only the second most delusional thing in that particular post after "the statistical probability of Biden getting more votes than Obama, but only in the 5 states that mattered being one to quadrillions...". It's almost as if believing this was so important it wasn't worth checking which states Biden did actually better and worse in

Re: Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump

#674

Post by _7fvc » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 12:46 AM UTC

I can't justify and support these actions in the past few days. It's time for us to opt-out of these scuffles. There exists the middle. Resist the temptation to join either side.

Re: Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump

#675

Post by throwaway2245 » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 12:47 AM UTC

e40 wrote: post #398

ve55 wrote: post #44

This ban seems to heavily take advantage of the current moment, as it's obvious that he has tweeted worse things in the past. It's strange that they picked such a poor way to justify the ban when they could have made a significantly stronger case, and in doing so could have convinced millions more people that they are trying their best to apply policies evenly. For example, I have a hard time imagining why they chose…

The difference this time: people died.

This is an uncomfortable suggestion, considering that in 2020, there were mass protests about relevant deaths.

Re: Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump

#676

Post by wang_li » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 12:47 AM UTC

A question to consider is that the courts found @realDonaldTrump was official government communication a couple of years ago. As such is it appropriate that a private company can shut it down?

Re: Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump

#677

Post by tatrajim » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 12:47 AM UTC

Just a quiet word from a free speech advocate who has lived in China and spoken extensively with victims of the Cultural Revolution. The overheated rhetoric here and the shrill denunciations of political rivals ring all too familiar. Ask your older Chinese friends and colleagues how they view the matter of political censorship. You may find their observations salient.

Re: Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump

#678

Post by metabagel » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 12:47 AM UTC

_ea1k wrote: post #404

ve55 wrote: post #44

This ban seems to heavily take advantage of the current moment, as it's obvious that he has tweeted worse things in the past. It's strange that they picked such a poor way to justify the ban when they could have made a significantly stronger case, and in doing so could have convinced millions more people that they are trying their best to apply policies evenly. For example, I have a hard time imagining why they chose…

[flagged]

Actually, the unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud, the frivolous legal challenges to the election results, the fomenting of rage and grievance among Trump supporters, and the attack on the Capitol building were attempts to silence and overturn the votes of the majority of voters, who elected Biden to be president.

Re: Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump

#679

Post by busterarm » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 12:47 AM UTC

0x1F8B wrote: post #432

dukeofdoom wrote: post #303

This has been an embarrassing incident to those in power because it made them look weak. But calling a populist movement with millions of supporters, terrorists is very short sighted. It will only accelerate the fire. The left soon will control all three branches of government, after an election that many people question, has been simultaneously advocating for censorship of its political adversaries, more draconian c…

I agree with you. I think there is something wrong with the way we are reacting to these people and it's ratcheting up every day. I personally think they are deplorable and retrograde and, above all, willfully ignorant. But there is something wrong with this entire system and the path forward feels as untenable as the path we've been on. There has to be a detente, but I would never suggest that amongst my orbit of pe…

You have two sides in ideological conflict that are fundamentally unwilling to let the other deescalate.

With neither being allowed to back down, either conflict or subjugation at a national scale are inevitable.

I feel that we have a very short window left to rectify this sentiment lest we be in a completely failed state. Sadly becaue of COVID, it's very difficult to move countries at the moment. I do not plan on sticking around to see what happens though.

Re: Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump

#680

Post by fredophile » Sat, Jan 09, 2021, 12:47 AM UTC

rattlesnakedave wrote: post #544

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #359

> The type of person that stormed the capitol will perceive this as an escalation. Who cares? The type of person that stormed the Capitol has shown they are impervious to reality. Time to stop the appeasement.

Rhetoric like this is why they stormed the capitol.

Do you have a better solution? You can't just continue to go along with people to avoid a fight. Some things are worth fighting for.