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Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

bbc.com

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Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#271

Post by entelechy0 »

FilterSweep wrote: post #150
tajen wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"A cartoon of Pepe the Frog is a commonly used symbol of the alt-right" is the subtitle of the image in the BBC article. Look at it, the drawing innocence is really staggering: I'm wondering what is the link, whether the link is warranted, and whether Twitter used posts of Pepe the Frog to recognize alt-right people. Sounds like a badly AI-generated inference to me.

The particular situation with pepe the frog is a bit more nuanced than news sources let on. He went from "Feels Bad, Man" comics to being very frequently photoshopped with 3rd reich / swastikas / other neo-nazi logos. Pepe is an interesting case because it brings up the discrepancy between trolling (messing with others in "bad fun") and actual people who vehemently support and push aggressively hateful messages.

The link is tenuous at best. Some people probably saw Pepe sidelining swastikas, associated the two, reported on it, then someone saw the report and decided to run with it because people are stupid and report back whatever they see without critically evaluating it.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#272

Post by CoryG89 »

huffpopo wrote: post #107
kelukelugames wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an able bodied straight male working in tech, I don't understand how any man can be offended by the killallmen hashtag. I don't feel threatened. They can't even hurt my feelings. Offended men must be very soft and have small dongles.

I remember the die techie scum protests. Vomiting on busses, throwing rocks at bus windows etc. It was very threatening.

Oh yes, the "poor" rich people being threatened by the actual poor. Very threatening indeed.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#273

Post by mulletbum »

thecopy wrote: post #24
mulletbum wrote: post #5

Why does the alt-right have issues with them being banned from systems, but don't see issues with themselves banning others from systems. For example, Twitter bans them from using Twitter, but the /r/The_Donald echo chamber bans anyone with a counter view to their own. If you want freedom to speak on certain platforms, you need to provide the same rights to everyone.

Apples and oranges. /r/The_Donald is a subreddit niche specifically for supporters for Trump, it is standard for a niche subreddit with a specific goal to ban users which attempt to hinder that goal from happening. Hillary-subreddit does the same.

I was more trying to express the irony of it, even if one a spot and the other is a platform. Twitter doesn't have a "spot" so it is the platform you get banned from.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#274

Post by caseysoftware »

vijayr wrote: post #87
jinfiesto wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why the above is down-voted. There's a litany of evidence to suggest that this is actually true.

The article says "The social network has not given an explanation for its actions." Banning is fine, but it would be nice if they can actually say in writing, citing reasons and evidence, why they banned them (even if lots of evidence exists elsewhere). Banning without any explanation isn't of any use to anyone

In the US, the Net Neutrality position describes internet access as a utility, not a luxury. Further the UN declares it a Human Right. If either/both of those positions hold, then the gatekeepers - Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc - suppressing any view or blocking access to any group could be a violation of human rights.

I think that will have to be settled in court, but it will get messy for those companies.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#275

Post by maxerickson »

LyndsySimon wrote: post #214
pyvpx wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

alt-right by definition is racist and sexist. that is the definition of the alt-right platform.

Dozens of people in my close social circles identify as "alt-right", and none of them are remotely sexist or racist.

Do they understand what is happening to the label that they identify with? Do they seek to make a clear statement about what they believe the alt right stands for?

If they let some definition take hold that includes racism, then in the future when they object to saying that the alt right is racist, they aren't standing up for what they believe in anymore, they are providing cover for the racists that stole the label from them.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#276

Post by tptacek »

Taek wrote: post #240

118 points in 1 hour, page 3 of HN? This story is writing itself. The alt-right is not a small number of people. 50 million went to the polls and voted for Trump. And with things like this, you're giving them ammunition. You just told 50 million people that their views are not accepted in society. You just told the electoral majority that they are not allowed in one of the most common forums for political discourse.…

The story here is simply that politics don't belong on Hacker News, and users (rightly) flag stories like this.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#277

Post by michaelbuddy »

Yet another reason why Twitter will ultimately fail. Censorship of whoever you think are nefarious characters when purported "victims" can easily just block people is just plain silly. We already know there are block list services that will autoblock. So if anyone is getting trouble from troll / enemies or want to be their own echo chamber, it's easy to do all this stuff. Bye Twitter, hello Minds & Gab.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#278

Post by mulletbum »

iopq wrote: post #97
mulletbum wrote: post #5

Why does the alt-right have issues with them being banned from systems, but don't see issues with themselves banning others from systems. For example, Twitter bans them from using Twitter, but the /r/The_Donald echo chamber bans anyone with a counter view to their own. If you want freedom to speak on certain platforms, you need to provide the same rights to everyone.

Because /r/The_Donald is a community, they don't give out bans for the entire Reddit website, only from their own community. Twitter is not a community, it's a website akin to Reddit which contains communities.

Twitter doesn't have an ability to ban you from parts of the community. So they are a single community.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#279

Post by nathanasmith »

mhurron wrote: post #220
Pungsnigel wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know the result of a completely different kind of election? The candidates would obviously campaign differently in the case you are describing.

Numbers: Trump : 60,834,437 votes Hillary : 61,782,016 votes Popular Vote result ( as in your vote counts the same as everyone elses ) President Hillary. US System ( the weight of your vote depends on what state you live in ) President Trump. If you want to break it down further than that, well there is no reason to analyze anything ever because it's always a completely different situation. People were blindsided bec…

Your argument is completely fallacious. The contest from the beginning was to get the most electoral votes. The candidates campaigned with that in mind. In many one-sided states like California and Utah, voters voted with that in mind, i.e., Republicans stay home in CA and Democrats stay home in UT. If the election had been about the popular vote, the candidates would have used radically different strategies and the voters in heavy red and blue states would have voted. None of this is controversial.

Re: Twitter suspends alt-right figureheads

#280

Post by dictum »

gaius wrote: post #223
hermiti wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with banning hate speech is that it is relative. Next up, books will be banned because they incite alternate opinions.

Bear in mind that some people consider this site to be sexist and racist - check out the #hnwatch hashtag on Twitter. Everyone commenting here "good", consider that as a member of HN, others tar you with the same brush. Still so happy?

> check out the #hnwatch hashtag on Twitter

I didn't know that hashtag and was not surprised to see that one of its regular users is someone who likes to use autism as a metaphor for men working in tech.

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