70TB of Parler users’ messages, videos, and posts leaked by security researchers • Hacker News Board

Re: 70TB of Parler users’ messages, videos, and posts leaked by security researchers

#491

Post by chrononaut » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 4:48 PM UTC

whimsicalism wrote: post #435

liminal wrote: post #420

I see a number of people here describing Parler as "unmoderated", but it turns out they do have extensive moderation [1] that they use to ensure ideological conformity in their posts. Then the most active users were paid for their content too [2]. This really makes it more of a propaganda weapon than a free speech platform. [1] https://twitter.com/donk_enby/status/1347939939120533506 [2] https://twitter.com/donk_enby…

By that standard, Instagram is a propaganda weapon. It both: a. pays popular users b. Puts warnings on political issues, like statements that Biden's crime bill contributed to mass incarceration [0] [0] https://twitter.com/ben_awareness/status/1339293381625864195

> b. Puts warnings on political issues, like statements that Biden's crime bill contributed to mass incarceration

I assume that point was an extension of OP's comment of: "that they use to ensure ideological conformity in their posts."

For those interested, here is a link to the USA Today article from the screenshot evaluating whether "the crime bill brought mass incarceration to Black Americans": https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/07/03/fac...

> Stephen Ross Johnson, of Knoxville, Tennessee, a board member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and past president of the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, told USA TODAY that it is "over simplistic" to say the 1994 crime bill led to mass incarceration.

> Asked if the bill caused or largely contributed to it, Johnson says: “The bottom line answer to that is no. Was it a link in the chain? Yes. Is it the beginning of the chain? No.”

> Johnson argues that the roots of mass incarceration can be found in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with legislation that created, among other things, the RICO statute, which broadened the scope of federal law as the war on drugs began to take shape.

I'd say I agree with the points in the article over the non-contextual, anonyomous, blanket statement that the crime bill brought ("caused") mass incarceration of Black Americans.

Re: 70TB of Parler users’ messages, videos, and posts leaked by security researchers

#492

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0 » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 4:48 PM UTC

ceilingcorner wrote: post #165

go13 wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised to see how many people can not think for themselves but follow what media is telling them. I hope I don't do that myself but try to understand the matter and follow principles rather than sides. What I'm surprised the most is that with these complex and not obvious questions (at least to me) people without any shadow of a doubt are certain that it is right for big tech to censor Trump, shut down parler…

You are currently witnessing the result of defunding humanities in favor of technical education.

I think "citation needed" is appropriate here. If we are bringing US education system into this conversation, the sheer number of humanities ( and the people they apparently teach ) suggests the opposite of what your post suggests.

Dare I say, if more technical education was required, some of the issues in US could be, at least, ameliorated.

Re: 70TB of Parler users’ messages, videos, and posts leaked by security researchers

#493

Post by syops » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 4:48 PM UTC

whimsicalism wrote: post #473

syops wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've made an argument that Instagram engages in some form of advancing certain viewpoints. You have not demonstrated that this is extensive and that Instagram enforces ideological conformity or that Instagram actively pays people to engage in said advancement of political agendas. There appears to be quite a difference between what Instagram does and what Parler does. The two do not appear to be comparable.

> Instagram actively pays people to engage in said advancement of political agendas. I haven't seen evidence that Parler's payments are specifically tied to promoting certain political agendas versus just being an influential poster. > You have not demonstrated that this is extensive Well, I've demonstrated it as convincingly as the user above who linked to a twitter post of someone just saying they have "robust mode…

I don't claim anything about the veracity of the post you responded to or about your claims either. Except that your claims aren't an apt comparison because your comparison is logically flawed. Instagram paying some users for their content isn't the same as Instagram paying people to advocate a certain political agenda. And having a moderation system in place isn't the same as having a moderation system in place that is designed to ensure only a certain political viewpoint is discussed. And you've made no claims about Instagram enforcing only one political viewpoint.

I was just pointing out that your statements, if true, still don't support your conclusion as they don't provide an apt comparison to the claims about Parler.

Re: 70TB of Parler users’ messages, videos, and posts leaked by security researchers

#494

Post by marcinzm » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 4:49 PM UTC

mittermayr wrote: post #476

sanedigital wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The data is public now—if you're so certain, go find me a single post on Parler calling for mass executions.

Since a "single post" has been provided by someone now, it would be nice to see you give them the decency and acknowledge it. There are so many comments here, and they all read in the same way, "well, what about..." and "show me proof" — only for someone to actually go and spend the time to respond, and then be ignored quietly. Discussions here (political ones) feel so childish, I wish we'd be better as a community o…

Personally, when I discuss politics online I don't expect the other person to acknowledge anything. My audience is all the people on the fence lurking and reading and forming opinions on the topic.

Re: 70TB of Parler users’ messages, videos, and posts leaked by security researchers

#495

Post by cbozeman » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 4:49 PM UTC

evgen wrote: post #423

tw04 wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear this a lot, but it makes no logical sense to me. I see a site that is (in)famous for being full of self-proclaimed right-wing "patriots" who are calling for violence against people due to political beliefs. Someone then decide to associate with these people by joining the site. They may not personally post messages calling for violence, but are now associated with them. And the response is: well sure I'm in th…

There is a German saying that goes something like "if there’s a Nazi at the table and 10 other people sitting there talking to him, you've got a table with 11 Nazis.”

A saying from a nation with collective psychological trauma of over 100 years. No thanks.

That's an idiotic saying. The person's comment above you is also idiotic.

When Twitter is banning feminist women for saying something as so patently obvious as, "Men are not women." [1] then don't be surprised when people choose to make accounts at any available social media service because 1) people aren't creating blogs that get 100 million visitors anymore (if such blogs ever existed) and 2) no one has any idea which social media platform will become the next 3 billion user juggernaut and which one will be converted into a shitty music-focused platform.

[1]: Meghan Murphy, banned in 2018 for "hateful conduct" following a heated exchange which involved misgendering a transgender woman. The fact that someone could be banned for fucking misgendering someone indicates just how pathetic our society has become. These services have a block button, and apparently no one knows how to use it.

Re: 70TB of Parler users’ messages, videos, and posts leaked by security researchers

#496

Post by beepboopbeep » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 4:49 PM UTC

bzb6 wrote: post #472

syops wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've made an argument that Instagram engages in some form of advancing certain viewpoints. You have not demonstrated that this is extensive and that Instagram enforces ideological conformity or that Instagram actively pays people to engage in said advancement of political agendas. There appears to be quite a difference between what Instagram does and what Parler does. The two do not appear to be comparable.

Get an Instagram account and say something against feminism, diversity, fat people, etc and see what happens.

It's not unreasonable for a person instigating something through negative posts to receive negative reactions in return. That seems self evident.

Re: 70TB of Parler users’ messages, videos, and posts leaked by security researchers

#497

Post by brigandish » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 4:49 PM UTC

mrzimmerman wrote: post #458

brigandish wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The threat is in giving the fascist terrorist 1% a microphone The problem with fascist terrorists is not their rhetoric, it's their violence. Allow them to speak their mind and you lower their need for violent action and everyone else gets to show that their ideas are horribly flawed. It's amusing to think that people seriously believe there are huge swathes of people just ripe to become neo-nazis because someone g…

You're purposefully being reductionist about this. People having their brains hit with racist or violent rhetoric over a long period of time will be changed by that. They human brain adapts to it's environment, expecting certain inputs and if it's receiving /pol light on Twitter then it starts to expect it. On top of that, it's only a matter of time before they're linked to one of the many .win site that sprang up af…

> You're purposefully being reductionist about this.

I'm really not, and I'd prefer if you started off responding to me by not (mis)characterising my intentions. I'm 100% sincere in my support of free speech and stand 100% behind my comment.

> People having their brains hit with racist or violent rhetoric over a long period of time will be changed by that

Yes, they will, which is why it's good to allow every voice and every kind of viewpoint a chance to be expressed and hence challenged. Unless you think that echo chambers are a good thing?

> people have been moved to violence and facism in human history, that's not difficult to find

Did they occur in places with high amounts of censorship or free speech? The Holocaust wasn't caused simply by one of Hitler's speeches, for example, it was also (among other things) primed by the rampant anti-semitic prejudice that came from the pulpit every Sunday for hundreds of years - which was unchallengable due to blasphemy laws.

Another "win" for the repression of speech someone in power doesn't like, eh?

Re: 70TB of Parler users’ messages, videos, and posts leaked by security researchers

#498

Post by sillysaurusx » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 4:49 PM UTC

Finnucane wrote: post #488

sillysaurusx wrote: post #452

This person committed a crime to leak this data. I don't know how any of you can be this blatantly two-faced or so unprincipled. You're cheering on a criminal committing a crime. You're cheering on the suppression of an entire political party, while calling them extremists, fascists, terrorists, and every other -ist that you feel vaguely fits the bill. Yes, a few of them marched on the capitol. Yes, that was awful. N…

It is certainly arguable that if this data contained evidence of serious crimes--such as plotting treason and murder of government officials--then under normal circumstances, it should be turned over to the appropriate agencies, such as the FBI, and not released publicly, so as to not doxx people who may not necessarily have committed any crime beyond the poor judgement of hanging with fascists. Whether we can beleiv…

That’s a fine argument, and if someone had seen such a thing, it might even change my mind. But this was done preemptively: “that probably exists, so this is probably okay.”

Re: 70TB of Parler users’ messages, videos, and posts leaked by security researchers

#499

Post by marcinzm » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 4:50 PM UTC

hartator wrote: post #489

marcinzm wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/09/us/arkansas-police-resign...

These are not credible death threats.

The following was requested and provided, please stop changing the goal post when you're called out.

> single post

> on Parler

> calling for mass executions

Re: 70TB of Parler users’ messages, videos, and posts leaked by security researchers

#500

Post by ghthor » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 4:51 PM UTC

semicolon_storm wrote: post #405

nickysielicki wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This whole ordeal really sours Twilio in my mind. Whereas AWS can plausibly claim that they don't want to host illegal content, what can Twilio say for themselves here? From Twilios perspective, providing Twilio's core product to Parler isn't any different than serving them to other platforms. They have no responsibility or liability. The lack of moderation on Parler is irrelevant when Twilio isn't involved with movi…

If there's a drunk guy trying to start fights in your restaurant, you boot him out the door immediately for being a safety hazard and overall reflecting poorly on your business. I don't think any reasonable patrons will see that and think "Wow, they just kicked that guy out because they didn't like what he was saying, it could happen to me too, better get out of here". It's a similar (digital) situation here. Parler…

Jan 6th was not an insurrection, we had at mon 500k people there. If it was an insurrection, we'd all still be there occupying the capital building. Stop using words that aren't accurate.