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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'

#521

Post by jokr004 »

Mikushi wrote: post #364
kentonv wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. Can we stop saying this as a universal truth? You find it offensive. I and millions other people don't. You deal with it.

I agree with what you're getting at, but at the same time it's reasonable to say that a non-trivial number of people are offended by the term.. So even while most people don't take offense, I don't think it's wrong to describe the word as offensive.

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

#522

Post by petercooper »

shkkmo wrote: post #507
DanBC wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't that reassure you? Assuming this letter is true: they're not stopping you from using offensive words, they're stopping you from using a very small set of words because those words contribute to a culture that cause actual harm. TV is a poor example: it's fine to make jokes about male rape on TV, but everyone loses their shit when an obscured nipple is shown.

'retarded' in it's current usage is not offensive. It means "very foolish or stupid." 'retarded' in it's dated usage is offensive, but it wasn't being used in that sense in the repo in question. This dated usage has fortunately fallen pretty much completely out of common usage. If I tell you "my brother is retarded" you know exactly what I mean because if I had wanted to tell you that my brother has a learning disabi…

So like how "lame" used to mean crippled or physically disabled but now generally doesn't in an informal context?

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

#523

Post by rrmm »

Panino wrote: post #102

Lots of misuse of the word "censorship" here and any time this subject comes up generally, not just on this site but anywhere the topic is discussed. What is/are the root issue(s) of this mistaken belief? I typed a few possibilities but they sounded preposterous so I just deleted all that. Could someone who thinks this is censorship please explain why Github doesn't have the right to control its own privately owned w…

The definition of censor is "to examine books, movies, letters, etc., in order to remove things that are considered to be offensive, immoral, harmful to society, etc.", right?

Github is censoring content on their site according to their TOS. They have a right to.

It's not a First Amendment issue. It's still probably worth considering if it's a good thing. Especially, if you plan to host a project that has content that might be objectionable to someone.

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

#524

Post by overpaidgoogler »

For me the main issue is not that github removed offensive content, but the politicization of the concept.

The most glaring discrepancy to me is that even though the word "nerd" is used to incite physical violence, that word is not considered inappropriate. The reason is that progressive political ideology asserts that violence that is perpetrated by "powerful" groups against "powerless" groups has an additional significance and importance, and violence against nerds falls weakly into this category, if at all.

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

#525

Post by [deleted] »

Animats wrote: post #191
thedz wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. This isn't censorship of the type that is illegal or not allowed. It is a private company deciding a word was inappropriate. 2. It seems like most in this comment thread agree that this action, as a singular act, is a good thing. The word was offensive. Github asked the repo to change it. They did. The end. 3. As for the larger context, the problem with the frequent use of slippery slope arguments and cries of "ce…

"This isn't censorship of the type that is illegal or not allowed. It is a private company deciding a word was inappropriate." As a Github user, that kind of thinking worries me. Google Code went away, and Sourceforge started packaging adware and spyware with other people's projects. They could do this because "they were a private company". Now Github's management is starting to throw their weight around. We now need…

[deleted]

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

#526

Post by MrDosu »

ebola1717 wrote: post #130
Nyetan wrote: post #63

This brings up a point that's been nagging at me for a while: does making a community more inclusive necessarily mean making it less distinctive? GenderDetector (formerly SexMachine [1]) is another example of this process, wherein what was formerly considered within the norm of politeness is now sufficiently far outside to cause outcry. I'm curious what other people think -- this has been on my mind for a while, and…

The parts of the "distinctiveness" and "cultural identity" we'd lose are exactly the ones we don't want in the first place.

Who decides what part of my "distinctiveness" and "cultural identity" is acceptable? You? The majority? Some higher authority?

This is a slippery slope...

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

#527

Post by LesZedCB »

the8472 wrote: post #460
glass- wrote: post #431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't find it offensive. I and millions of other people do. You deal with it.

Why should one group of people acquiesce to another group of people's demands just because they claim offensiveness. Should everyone live to the strictest thinkable standards because somewhere out there is a semi-large group of people who find your behavior offensive? Such semi-large groups might be religions for example that take various kinds of behaviors you take for granted as offensive.

It's not that you have to. It's a social grace to not offend people. If you really want to, you are allowed to. But when society says to fuck off -- well, you got what you paid for.

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

#528

Post by MichaelGG »

jazzyk wrote: post #508
DanBC wrote: post #469

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Words do cause harm. It's a failure of imagination to think otherwise. When you use the word retard you dehumanise people with LD. You contribute to a culture where it's okay to deny those people work; to segregate them in specialist housing; to deny them medical treatment; to kill them with lack of medical treatment. It's a slippery slope to eugenics and genocide to think otherwise.

You guys may be thinking about two different contexts: 1. calling someone with a disability a retard (which I would never, ever do) 2. using the word "retarded" in a generic sense. For example: I may have called my kids retarded, in exasperation, for doing something nonsensical. Not elegant, but has been used as a figure of speech, of sorts, for ever. My problem with censoring words (and political correctness in gene…

1. How long ago was it that "retarded" was the socially acceptable term?

2. What is a "reverse" racist?

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

#529

Post by bitwize »

CoryG89 wrote: post #40

For people who don't see what's wrong here. The issue is not about whether the word 'retard' is or is not offensive to anyone. You need to consider that GitHub currently hosts a large percentage of the web's open source repositories. This is censorship plain and simple, something that IMO has no place in open source. The issue is that there are plenty of things some people might find offensive on GitHub but you dont…

If you say or do socially offensive things, don't be surprised if there are social repercussions for it. GitHub is not the government. They are free to ban whomever they want for saying anything GitHub objects to.

And yes, "retarded" is more offensive than random swearwords because it is a slur against a class of people.

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

#530

Post by brobinson »

cheald wrote: post #373

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 t…

Bitbucket has free private repos if you're looking for somewhere else. Not quite as full featured as Github, but it's free.
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