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Google's chairman Eric Schmidt has written an op-ed to The New York Times calling for tools to disrupt speech on social media:
Technology companies should work on tools to disrupt terrorism - such as creating a hate speech "spell-checker" - Google's chairman Eric Schmidt has said. Writing in The New York Times, Mr Schmidt said using technology to automatically filter-out extremist material would "de-escalate tensions on social media" and "remove videos before they spread".
His essay comes as presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton again called on Silicon Valley to help tackle terrorism, specifically seeking tools to combat the so-called Islamic State. "We need to put the great disrupters at work at disrupting ISIS," she said during a speech in Washington DC.
From the NYT editorial:
In Myanmar, connectivity fans the flames of violence against the Rohingya, the minority Muslim population. In Russia, farms of online trolls systematically harass democratic voices and spread false information on the Internet and on social media. And in the Middle East, terrorists use social media to recruit new members. In particular, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has harnessed social media to appeal to disaffected young people, giving them a sense of belonging and direction that they are not getting anywhere else. The militants' propaganda videos are high on style and production value. They're slick and marketable. In short, they are deluding some people to believe that living a life fueled by hatred and violence is actually ... cool.
This is where our own relationship with the Internet, and with technology, must be examined more closely. The Internet is not just a series of tubes transmitting information from place to place, terminal to terminal, without regard for those typing on their keyboards or reading on their screens. The people who use any technology are the ones who need to define its role in society. Technology doesn't work on its own, after all. It's just a tool. We are the ones who harness its power.
(Score: 4, Informative) by looorg on Wednesday December 09 2015, @02:36PM
See it already started, so used to filters not letting words like that true I'm already self-censoring. Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, Cocksucker, Motherfucker and Tits. Guess it worked here ...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 09 2015, @05:24PM
There's a difference between default censorship and censorship by a private entity hoping to keep his or her forum clean. It also cuts down on just how vulgar the spambots can get.
Now, for that language you spouted, I'd say go fuck your mother, but chances are she's old and you're adopted.
Still, I much prefer the method in Wasteland 2 employed by the Mannerites. Be polite, but still be mean.
Of course, I am not sure what mature and immature language means. Saying words like fuck and cunt sure refer to adult things but many people refer to the use of such words as immature. Who gets to decide these things, I want to know, and how do I get placed into such a position of authority?
In 1984, it is demonstrated that if one controls the language, one controls the expression of thought, and through that one controls the ability to think. The less words that are known and used, the less they can be used in a manner alarming to the powers that be. Before long, the animals are easy to control if they are unable to effectively communicate to each other. Just like cattle.