Re:Did the early internet activists blow it?
by jariel on Saturday February 15, 2020 @09:00PM
(#22339365)
"What is hate speech? I'm sure I don't need to elaborate further on what I see wrong with that."
Absolutely you need to elaborate.
I think your comment implies a misunderstanding of populism and the kinds of things that go on in this world. By that I mean, because we actually do live in a world with a lot of rules, I suggest most people don't realize just how bad it can get.
"Anything goes" means ISIS showing beheadings of civilians in order to recruit more young men to the cause which works very well as a recruiting tool.
I'd encourage you to look into the Rwandan genocide - it was done through media. Radio broadcasters on either side were lamenting the others as 'cockroaches' 'vile creatures' who needed to be 'exterminated' passing lies and false information and then, at one point, calling for outright murder. The 'war' was not between armies, it was a lot of regular people, taking to the streets, massacring each other with machetes en masse. Like a 'zombie' film come to life.
And of course, the idiot teaching people to make sarin gas in their basement for fun, or to make sure that those 'cockroaches in group XYZ' can be slaughtered'.
This is what 'anything goes' means.
The moniker 'hate speech' can surely be over-applied, for example, in Quebec a comedian was fined $30K for making a joke about a person in a wheelchair. Sometimes uncomfortable arguments are labeled 'hate'. This is ridiculous obviously.
But - there's absolutely no doubt that 'hate speech' exists and can foment particularly young minds into some really devious world views.
Particularly in the context of 'fake information' the Holocaust, for example, could be 'erased' as a legit element of history.
Some of the stuff that is 'normalized' among some kids is pretty shocking, even just some casual use of language.
The 'internet' is now the commons, like any other commons, and though we need to err very much in the side of freedom of expression there - will be limited.
I see at least two thresholds, 1) the civil commons, like most areas where you can't go around screaming about this or that, like a private office or even a public square where you can't harass people. And 2) more private spaces, people should be able to almost anything they want (i.e. 'almost anything goes) and the threshold should be really high, but true 'hate speech calling for violence' for example should be a problem. ISIS beheading videos should be taken down. People calling for the mass murder of 'some group' can be taken down. If you're trying to teach people to make sarin gas in their basements, this can be taken down. Etc..
Absolutely you need to elaborate.
I think your comment implies a misunderstanding of populism and the kinds of things that go on in this world. By that I mean, because we actually do live in a world with a lot of rules, I suggest most people don't realize just how bad it can get.
"Anything goes" means ISIS showing beheadings of civilians in order to recruit more young men to the cause which works very well as a recruiting tool.
I'd encourage you to look into the Rwandan genocide - it was done through media. Radio broadcasters on either side were lamenting the others as 'cockroaches' 'vile creatures' who needed to be 'exterminated' passing lies and false information and then, at one point, calling for outright murder. The 'war' was not between armies, it was a lot of regular people, taking to the streets, massacring each other with machetes en masse. Like a 'zombie' film come to life.
And of course, the idiot teaching people to make sarin gas in their basement for fun, or to make sure that those 'cockroaches in group XYZ' can be slaughtered'.
This is what 'anything goes' means.
The moniker 'hate speech' can surely be over-applied, for example, in Quebec a comedian was fined $30K for making a joke about a person in a wheelchair. Sometimes uncomfortable arguments are labeled 'hate'. This is ridiculous obviously.
But - there's absolutely no doubt that 'hate speech' exists and can foment particularly young minds into some really devious world views.
Particularly in the context of 'fake information' the Holocaust, for example, could be 'erased' as a legit element of history.
Some of the stuff that is 'normalized' among some kids is pretty shocking, even just some casual use of language.
The 'internet' is now the commons, like any other commons, and though we need to err very much in the side of freedom of expression there - will be limited.
I see at least two thresholds, 1) the civil commons, like most areas where you can't go around screaming about this or that, like a private office or even a public square where you can't harass people. And 2) more private spaces, people should be able to almost anything they want (i.e. 'almost anything goes) and the threshold should be really high, but true 'hate speech calling for violence' for example should be a problem. ISIS beheading videos should be taken down. People calling for the mass murder of 'some group' can be taken down. If you're trying to teach people to make sarin gas in their basements, this can be taken down. Etc..