Twitter users are revealing the identities of white supremacist protestors

Posted by mgiannopoulos on Sunday August 13, 2017 @05:42PM
from the google.lu dept.

https://www.google.lu/amp/s/www.recode.net/platform/amp/2017/8/13/16140614/charlottesville-protestor-identities-twitter-yesyoureracist-white-nationalists

( 8 comments | 15 points | on HN )

Re:Twitter users are revealing the identities of white supre... by nsaslideface on Sunday August 13, 2017 @06:04PM (#15005202)

Or to put it another way, the protesters are revealing their own identities by making their info public.

I am skeptical of how useful this is in the long run. It's therapeutic for some of my fellow leftists ("haha, this person's name is sullied for life, I imagine") but real, permanent change is less easy than this.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Twitter users are revealing the identities of white supre... by deft on Sunday August 13, 2017 @06:04PM (#15005203)

Before anyone comes in and acts like this is wrong: attaching a face to a 'free speech' protest is perfectly OK. There's no legal penalties for saying horrific racist comments, but there are social ones.

Props to these people, however I hope there aren't any mistaken identities.

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Re:Twitter users are revealing the identities of white supre... by berberous on Sunday August 13, 2017 @06:10PM (#15005227)

While it's hard to feel any sympathy for this particular group of nazi losers, I think Slate Star Codex makes some decent points about the dangers of this kind of behavior:

http://slatestarcodex.com/2017/07/29/against-signal-boosting...

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Re:Twitter users are revealing the identities of white supre... by mikeash on Sunday August 13, 2017 @06:13PM (#15005247)

For those wringing their hands about free speech, remember that this was a violent event which resulted in one death, a dozen or two serious injuries, and lots and lots of less serious injuries.

It's one thing to call out people involved in a peaceful Nazi rally (although I don't think I'd be opposed to that either), and white another to call out people involved in fighting and killing peaceful protestors.

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Re:Twitter users are revealing the identities of white supre... by peterwwillis on Sunday August 13, 2017 @06:05PM (#15005209)

“I understand the photo has a very negative connotation,” he said. “But I hope that the people sharing the photo are willing to listen that I’m not the angry racist they see in that photo.”

Apparently, racists do not know they are racist.

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Re:Twitter users are revealing the identities of white supre... by cup on Sunday August 13, 2017 @06:03PM (#15005200)

If you're comfortable enough marching in public then I would have assume you'd have no issue with people knowing you were at that event.

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Re:Twitter users are revealing the identities of white supre... by concede_pluto on Sunday August 13, 2017 @06:07PM (#15005215)

Two problems: suppressing dumb ideas lends them unwarranted credibility, and in their fervor they will almost certainly victimize innocent people.

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Re:Twitter users are revealing the identities of white supre... by smt88 on Sunday August 13, 2017 @06:12PM (#15005237)

I don't see this as suppressing dumb ideas. Quite the opposite -- it's fueling a national debate about those ideas. These people are getting much more of a platform than they'd otherwise have, and I disagree that it gives them credibility. It gives them warranted (and necessary) visibility, juxtaposed against a social backlash, which hurts their credibility.

To your second point: what makes you think doxxing them is going to motivate them to victimize people that they wouldn't otherwise victimize?

[ Parent | on HN ]