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Unmasking The Biggest Troll on Reddit

theatlanticwire.com

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Re: Unmasking The Biggest Troll on Reddit

#11

Post by klodolph »

gilgoomesh wrote: post #3

This action against violentacrez seems nasty and vitriolic. His only "crime" in the article is moderating/posting non-nude pictures of teenage girls -- while removing actual nude pictures of the same. This is not an actual crime and while society discourages non-nude pictures of teenage girls -- as it forms part of an unofficial no-go zone between adult pornography and pedophilia -- there are whole industries (modell…

> So Adrian Chen is creeped out by a legal behavior

This is a conflation of "illegal behavior" with "creepy behavior", but they are distinct categories.

> there are whole industries [...] that thrive doing exactly this to 16 year old girls.

It is not relevant that other people engage in similar behavior.

> So Adrian Chen is creeped out by a legal behavior and decides to defame someone

Defamation need not be false. (If it were false you could call it "slander" or "libel".) Again, this is conflation of illegal behavior with creepy behavior; there are lots of legal creepy things and lots of illegal things that aren't creepy.

> entirely fictional guilt (since there's no crime)

Conflation of meanings of the word guilt, which has a legal definition as well as a common definition. I could be "guilty" of standing a girl up on a date even though it's perfectly legal to do so.

Re: Unmasking The Biggest Troll on Reddit

#12

Post by thaumaturgy »

ck2 wrote: post #7
angrycoder wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The full story is over on Gawker, the Atlantic article is just a summary that assumes you already know who this dude is. http://gawker.com/5950981/unmasking-reddits-violentacrez-the...

The problem was you cannot link to gawker from HN submissions, it's banned here too. And apparently there is a new moderation mode that removes/prevents articles from being on the front page, because that just happened too.

Gawker (and its associated sites) have been banned on HN for a long time for their really poor content quality (and the propensity of newbies to vote them up).

This article was briefly on the front page. I am one of probably many who flagged it down into oblivion, where it belongs.

Re: Unmasking The Biggest Troll on Reddit

#13

Post by ck2 »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #12
ck2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem was you cannot link to gawker from HN submissions, it's banned here too. And apparently there is a new moderation mode that removes/prevents articles from being on the front page, because that just happened too.

Gawker (and its associated sites) have been banned on HN for a long time for their really poor content quality (and the propensity of newbies to vote them up). This article was briefly on the front page. I am one of probably many who flagged it down into oblivion, where it belongs.

So you don't think it warrants discussion from a hacker perspective?

I guess you don't build online communities.

Re: Unmasking The Biggest Troll on Reddit

#14

Post by thaumaturgy »

ck2 wrote: post #13
thaumaturgy wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gawker (and its associated sites) have been banned on HN for a long time for their really poor content quality (and the propensity of newbies to vote them up). This article was briefly on the front page. I am one of probably many who flagged it down into oblivion, where it belongs.

So you don't think it warrants discussion from a hacker perspective? I guess you don't build online communities.

No, I don't think it warrants discussion. And yes, I do build communities -- both online and in the real world.

I read the article. It wasn't about communities; it was salacious gossip about an individual. If you really want to read about that, go stand in line at a supermarket and pick up one of their tabloids.

If you want to talk on HN about the problems and responsibilities of anonymity in online communities, then write something worth reading.

Re: Unmasking The Biggest Troll on Reddit

#15

Post by jerrya »

ck2 wrote: post #2

You cannot say both of these things together and be a decent human being: I asked if he regretted anything he had posted, now that he'd be found out. No, he said. "I would stand by exactly what I've done." "My wife is disabled. I got a home and a mortgage, and if this hits the fan, I believe this will affect negatively on my employment," he said. "I do my job, go home watch TV, and go on the internet. I just like ril…

Outside the context of what violentacrez is accused of posting, those two statements themselves seem fine and why at other times we have a First Amendment right to freedom of speech and expression.

I can imagine a patriot saying, I don't regret fighting against the British, but it still got me shot.

Free speech does not mean speech without responsibility.

But this cannot be an absolute either.

If every time you open your mouth, someone punches you in the face, then you really don't have free speech.

Re: Unmasking The Biggest Troll on Reddit

#16

Post by tzs »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #12
ck2 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem was you cannot link to gawker from HN submissions, it's banned here too. And apparently there is a new moderation mode that removes/prevents articles from being on the front page, because that just happened too.

Gawker (and its associated sites) have been banned on HN for a long time for their really poor content quality (and the propensity of newbies to vote them up). This article was briefly on the front page. I am one of probably many who flagged it down into oblivion, where it belongs.

If poor content and dumb newbie votes is grounds for banning, why the heck are techdirt and torrentfreak not banned?

Re: Unmasking The Biggest Troll on Reddit

#17

Post by thaumaturgy »

tzs wrote: post #16
thaumaturgy wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gawker (and its associated sites) have been banned on HN for a long time for their really poor content quality (and the propensity of newbies to vote them up). This article was briefly on the front page. I am one of probably many who flagged it down into oblivion, where it belongs.

If poor content and dumb newbie votes is grounds for banning, why the heck are techdirt and torrentfreak not banned?

Because nobody's made a big enough issue of those sites yet.

(I wouldn't mind if they weren't on HN, either.)

Re: Unmasking The Biggest Troll on Reddit

#18

Post by tzs »

gilgoomesh wrote: post #3

This action against violentacrez seems nasty and vitriolic. His only "crime" in the article is moderating/posting non-nude pictures of teenage girls -- while removing actual nude pictures of the same. This is not an actual crime and while society discourages non-nude pictures of teenage girls -- as it forms part of an unofficial no-go zone between adult pornography and pedophilia -- there are whole industries (modell…

What about the invasion of privacy of the young teens and pre-teens whose photos were posted? There were often very candid photos that would greatly embarrass their subjects if spread widely. He worked tirelessly to violate the privacy of others--and now his privacy has been stripped away. That's called karma.

Also, in many jurisdictions, including Texas where he lives, it in fact might be a crime to post the photos he posted. See the end of this: http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/docs/pe/htm/pe.21.htm

Re: Unmasking The Biggest Troll on Reddit

#19

Post by gilgoomesh »

klodolph wrote: post #11
gilgoomesh wrote: post #3

This action against violentacrez seems nasty and vitriolic. His only "crime" in the article is moderating/posting non-nude pictures of teenage girls -- while removing actual nude pictures of the same. This is not an actual crime and while society discourages non-nude pictures of teenage girls -- as it forms part of an unofficial no-go zone between adult pornography and pedophilia -- there are whole industries (modell…

> So Adrian Chen is creeped out by a legal behavior This is a conflation of "illegal behavior" with "creepy behavior", but they are distinct categories. > there are whole industries [...] that thrive doing exactly this to 16 year old girls. It is not relevant that other people engage in similar behavior. > So Adrian Chen is creeped out by a legal behavior and decides to defame someone Defamation need not be false. (I…

I accept your criticism that I've conflated legality with Chen's personal morality.

However, I think Chen has taken this action because he thinks violentacrez was objectively and unambiguous immoral -- which I think is not a univerally agreed point. I think alternative moral perspectives are indicated by the legal boundaries and the behaviors of other exploititative industries. I think this indicates that different moral standards on this issue are tolerated, even if they're still actively campaigned against.

I do now feel weird for defending ephebophiles.

Re: Unmasking The Biggest Troll on Reddit

#20

Post by bootload »

gilgoomesh wrote: post #3

This action against violentacrez seems nasty and vitriolic. His only "crime" in the article is moderating/posting non-nude pictures of teenage girls -- while removing actual nude pictures of the same. This is not an actual crime and while society discourages non-nude pictures of teenage girls -- as it forms part of an unofficial no-go zone between adult pornography and pedophilia -- there are whole industries (modell…

Chen alleges "... Violentacrez and his fellow moderators worked hard to make sure every girl on jailbait was underage, diligently deleting any photos of whose subjects seemed older than 16 or 17 ..."

then Chen alleges at Gawker, "... His speciality is distributing images of scantily-clad underage girls, but as Violentacrez he also issued an unending fountain of racism, porn, gore, misogyny, incest, and exotic abominations yet unnamed, all on the sprawling online community Reddit. ..." ~ http://gawker.com/5950981/unmasking-reddits-violentacrez-the...

I would say Chen is writing this as a public interest piece. I would also guess these allegations would be across the desk of members of law enforcement as a possible or potential paedophilia ring.

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