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GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

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Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#371

Post by deft »

jat850 wrote: post #203
chillacy wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This one, however, does seem to be relevant: # assertTrue is retarded, use the normal assert statement assert L https://code.google.com/p/chromium/codesearch#chromium/src/t... Along with: // TODO(darin): Fix this retardation! return buf_->RemainingCapacity() // HACK: I'm at a loss about how to get the syntax checker to get // whether a template is externed or not. For the first pass here, // just do retarded string c…

Those examples you have picked fit the same problem as the initial argument, yes. "retard" in French means "slow" or "late".

So hilarious that someone actually searched the codebase for 'retard' and then assumes it's a slur in french too.

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#372

Post by makomk »

bduerst wrote: post #249
foiboitoi wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Free speech isn't just a legality. It's a valuable principal that's stood the test of time of being one of the few core features of functional societies. Free speech is a value that we should all uphold regardless whether it legally applies or not. So stop making excuses for bad corporate behaviour.

"Free Speech" isn't a blank check to say and do whatever you want. Even SCOTUS says that direct threats of violence aren't protected by the first amendment. I'm tired of reading people nebulously defining "free speech philosophies" online to act as a shield to justify nefarious behavior on private property. Free speech exists as a protection from government censorship, and it doesn't protect you for acting like a dic…

Defending your position by citing that comic is basically the ultimate concession; you're saying that the most compelling argument you can make for GitHub's actions is that they weren't illegal. (For anyone who doesn't get the reference, look at the hovertext on that xkcd.)

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#373

Post by cheald »

GitHub making value judgments on the political correctness of speech in the repositories they host makes me extremely hesitant to continue to use them. I want my service platforms to be neutral to content, so long as it's legal. This isn't some complaint about "freedom of speech" or some whine about how GitHub can't do this, but their doing so has substantially harmed my faith in them as a platform and as a company that I want to be dependent on.

I'm voting with my wallet, and I've just deleted my private repos and downgraded from my paid plan. I don't wish to support these kinds of actions with my dollars.

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#374

Post by grkvlt »

So, why on earth are similarly 'offensive' repositories like https://github.com/meh/retarded (may be NSFW based on language) still available? This seems either a very selective policy, or there is something else going on beyond the mere use of the word 'Retard' here.

I found the example above with a simple Google search, and I'm sure there are many more that can be picked out, depending on the choice of obscenity or slur; so it seems like GitHub could be policing this fairly easily and automatically if desired (modulo obvious issues with false positives). Is it perhaps more likely that this is in response to a third party notifying them about the repo?

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#376

Post by bsaul »

brandonmenc wrote: post #228
EugeneOZ wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Charlie Hebdo did.

They did not. Charlie Hebdo did not publish, then get attacked for, content they themselves found offensive.

They did publish the original danish cartoons, which they publicaly said they found not from a very good taste, and that some were pretty bad cartoons, but that they had to publish them for the sake of free speech, even if it made them a target ( which it did). That's how it all started.

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#377

Post by kamjam »

kentonv wrote: post #62
avolcano wrote: post #6

Fine with me. It's an offensive term and GitHub has every right to police their service and ban content like this. Am I supposed to be concerned by this, and if so, why?

Is it offensive? Yes. Does Github have the right to take it down? Yes. Is it unethical for Github to take it down? Not at all. But should they? I don't know, I don't think I would have. It's kind of scary to use cloud services where it's hard to tell if your content might be judged in violation of some rule and might suddenly disappear as a result. If the offensiveness were more extreme (say, a repo dedicated to maki…

> Is it offensive? Yes.

It depends. Maybe to you and maybe to me (it isn;t). But we are both english speakers. Github has a global presence. What if I am a french speaker and I want to say something is delayed or running a little slow?

https://translate.google.co.uk/#fr/en/retard

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#378

Post by lordfoom »

DanBC wrote: post #338
manicdee wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First they came for the cussers and swearers, but I didn't speak out because I don't cuss or swear. Then they came for the homophobes and cisgendered bigots, and I cheered them on, because I value diversity. Then they came for the conspiracy theorists, and I didn't speak out because I don't believe the reptoids are evil. Then they came for me, and there was none left to speak out.

Your first line is wrong. This is not about swearing, it's about using a word that causes harm. > Then they came for me, and there was none left to speak out. ...apart from the vast majority of people, because most people don't feel the need to use words like nigger or retard in their open source projects.

So why should you be able to say nigger and retard on hacker news? Why stop at open source repos? Why not extend it to all forums and social media?

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#379

Post by lordfoom »

DanBC wrote: post #338
manicdee wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First they came for the cussers and swearers, but I didn't speak out because I don't cuss or swear. Then they came for the homophobes and cisgendered bigots, and I cheered them on, because I value diversity. Then they came for the conspiracy theorists, and I didn't speak out because I don't believe the reptoids are evil. Then they came for me, and there was none left to speak out.

Your first line is wrong. This is not about swearing, it's about using a word that causes harm. > Then they came for me, and there was none left to speak out. ...apart from the vast majority of people, because most people don't feel the need to use words like nigger or retard in their open source projects.

So why should you be able to say nigger and retard on hacker news? Why stop at open source repos? Why not extend it to all forums and social media?

Re: GitHub threatens to shut down a repository for using the word 'retard'

#380

Post by grkvlt »

There's something odd about this. The repo in question is 'nixxquality/WebMConverter' which is where the GitHub notice was sent. However, this is a fork of another repo - https://github.com/WebMBro/WebMConverter - and that parent repo seems alive and well (that is, not disabled, and unchanged, so still titled 'WebM for retards') so why the discrepancy? Did the WebMBro account get suspended initially, and then reinstated, and only the fork felt the need to change the text? If so, this seems like a lot of overreaction based on what may well have been a (well intentioned) mistake on GitHub's part?
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