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posted by martyb on Saturday April 13 2019, @05:36PM   Printer-friendly
from the let's-talk-about-it dept.

Packt reports that Gab's Dissenter browser extension was removed from Mozilla's Firefox add-ons on April 10th (people already using it can continue to do so), and was booted from Google's Chrome browser the next day. Gab pitches itself as an anti-censorship social media platform that only prohibits speech that is illegal. Their Dissenter browser extension and associated website allow people to share comments about any webpage, giving users the ability to share comments on articles, videos, etc., regardless of whether or not the website hosting the content has a comments section. Mozilla's rationale for the ban was that Dissenter was being used to promote violence, hate speech, and discrimination, but they failed to show any examples to bolster that claim. Gab plans to develop their own browser in response.


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by RandomFactor on Saturday April 13 2019, @07:25PM (12 children)

    by RandomFactor (3682) Subscriber Badge on Saturday April 13 2019, @07:25PM (#829039) Journal

    Those are already strongly represented there, along with libertarians, Gun Rights activists, really any group or viewpoint that's been getting de-platformed on other social networks tends to head that way.
     
    As long as they do not break the law, they can say their piece and voluntarily network with others to discuss ideas, argue, etc. to their heart's content.

    --
    В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 13 2019, @07:39PM (11 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 13 2019, @07:39PM (#829047)

    The whole 'Start your own platform if you don't like what the big ones are doing!' argument is and always has been a ruse, anyway. When these people actually follow that advice, their payment processors, web hosts, and even domain registrars attempt to deplatform them, making very expensive to operate any sort of alternative platform that is actually permissive regarding speech. The latter two can be largely worked around, but playing cat and mouse games with payment processors can quickly lead to financial ruin.

    It's amazing to me how people who otherwise claim to be skeptical of large corporations suddenly become Free Market Supremacists when the topic of corporate censorship comes up.

    • (Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Saturday April 13 2019, @07:47PM (5 children)

      by RandomFactor (3682) Subscriber Badge on Saturday April 13 2019, @07:47PM (#829054) Journal

      It's one thing that makes GAB interesting. It has survived, and apparently prospered, multiple times when I fully expected it to die due to measures being taken against it.

      --
      В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
      • (Score: 5, Interesting) by jmorris on Saturday April 13 2019, @08:56PM (4 children)

        by jmorris (4844) on Saturday April 13 2019, @08:56PM (#829108)

        Now see the horrible truth. A social media service can run on Gab's budget in the face of every hand being set against them. So banned that netcraft doesn't say they are dying because they won't even admit the domain exists. Seriously, go look for yourself! Yes Scalability Mountain sits between Gab and Twitter but it isn't THAT expensive to overcome anymore. So where are the markets seeing $26B of value in Twitter? Or half a trillion in Facebook? Hint: It ain't a good thing.

        Gab is currently heavy on political dissidents because those folk have few other options. If that were the whole story the System would be happy to have them safely segregated, and on an open enough platform the FBI, SPLC, etc can keep an eye on it. Vs the dark web, for example. They attack Gab for its users, but they are liars, ALWAYS, so look for the lie. The fear gab for what it could become, what it is the harbinger of. Where social media isn't a feeding frenzy for the Clowns and the marketing agencies. Gab has no ads, operates mostly on donations. Call it donations since the plums offered to subscribers are not much more than Soylent offers, And it lives. Against a world out to destroy it it lives, it grows, it is becoming part an alternate Internet, an alternate financial system. Because it must do these things to live, others will have an easier time following the path they are clearing.

        The world is about to change. Many fear this.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @04:39AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @04:39AM (#829241)

          What is this "Gab" you speak of?

        • (Score: 3, Touché) by ilPapa on Sunday April 14 2019, @06:12AM (2 children)

          by ilPapa (2366) on Sunday April 14 2019, @06:12AM (#829276) Journal

          Gab is currently heavy on political dissidents because those folk have few other options.

          These jackoffs think unwavering support for the President of the United States makes you a "political dissident".

          SMH

          --
          You are still welcome on my lawn.
          • (Score: 2) by jmorris on Sunday April 14 2019, @06:21AM (1 child)

            by jmorris (4844) on Sunday April 14 2019, @06:21AM (#829277)

            You funny. You think Trump is unconditional on gab? Obviously you have never been. They just don't disapprove of the same things you likely do.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @11:11AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @11:11AM (#829319)

              jmorris, we all know you let Trump just grab you by the genitals, because that is how positions of authority cream the pants of authoritarian lovers like your self. Did you ever once Touch [soylentnews.org] George Walker Bush, and feel his charisma and manliness? Did you want too? Are you Bi-curious?

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 13 2019, @11:15PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 13 2019, @11:15PM (#829155)

      The whole 'Start your own platform if you don't like what the big ones are doing!' argument is and always has been a ruse, anyway. When these people actually follow that advice, their payment processors, web hosts, and even domain registrars attempt to deplatform them, making very expensive to operate any sort of alternative platform that is actually permissive regarding speech.

      Then let them start their own payment processors, web hosting, and domain registrars! This whole "We go out of our way to offend as many people as possible but they don't like it and won't do businesses with us! Whaaaa!" entitlement is pure bullshit. If you want to stake your claim to ground so outside of the social and cultural norms then set up shop out there too. You can't have "we hate anyone different than us!" and "why won't companies do business with us?!?" at the same time. Pool your money and form your own First Nationalist Bank For Whites. Then create your Citizenship Card (you certainly don't want to use a Visa Card), or maybe a Master Race Card (if Master Card doesn't sue you). After that it's only infrastructure and fees before you're well on your way to taking payments.

      BTW, once your bank and CC processing is in place you're going to need 24/7 customer service. I hear there are low-cost call center services in other countries. You owe it to your members to keep your service fees as low as possible.

      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 13 2019, @11:39PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 13 2019, @11:39PM (#829166)

        Then let them start their own payment processors, web hosting, and domain registrars! This whole "We go out of our way to offend as many people as possible but they don't like it and won't do businesses with us! Whaaaa!" entitlement is pure bullshit.

        The thing is that this is a totally dishonest argument because you don't believe it's reasonable to expect that people be able to start their own payment processor, web hosting, and domain registrar companies, And, you don't even have to try to offend people in order for people to be offended.

        I am a principled progressive who is skeptical of corporations and the 'free market' across the board. That is why this current trend of deplatforming people and even deplatforming platforms is concerning to me. Right now, it might be targeted at people you don't like, but since mega-corporations are not even remotely on your side, you'll find that people you do like will eventually be targeted. In fact, that has already happened: Youtube's so-called adpocalypse affected far more people than just neo-nazis, including many small progressive news channels.

        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @12:54AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @12:54AM (#829189)

          The thing is that this is a totally dishonest argument because you don't believe it's reasonable to expect that people be able to start their own payment processor, web hosting, and domain registrar companies,

          This is ultimately what will happen.

          I am a principled progressive who is skeptical of corporations and the 'free market' across the board.

          I don't know why you're skeptical of the free market but the corporatism of the modern left is concerning. Fascism is corporatism.

          That is why this current trend of deplatforming people and even deplatforming platforms is concerning to me. Right now, it might be targeted at people you don't like, but since mega-corporations are not even remotely on your side, you'll find that people you do like will eventually be targeted. In fact, that has already happened: Youtube's so-called adpocalypse affected far more people than just neo-nazis, including many small progressive news channels.

          IIRC it was youtube channels for LBTQ youth hardest hit, courtesy of an NYT hit piece on Pewdiepie. The establishment, global-homo left has gone completely nuts as their narrative self-destructs due to inherent contradictions. Countless former progressives like myself are forced to side with the center right and still the fools double down on their divisive nonsense. The left was always against globalization and mass-immigration because we stood for the common man. We were against persecution of anybody based on skin color, ethnicity or sexual proclivity. We won, we created the most equal and fair society in all of human history yet the modern "left" are openly racist and side with corporations. They're not left wing, they are not for progress and they do not speak for me. Modern "progressives" are authoritarians who would all have been Christian social conservatives just 20 years ago -- I despise both positions and the personalities involved equally.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by NotSanguine on Sunday April 14 2019, @12:48AM

      The whole 'Start your own platform if you don't like what the big ones are doing!' argument is and always has been a ruse, anyway. When these people actually follow that advice, their payment processors, web hosts, and even domain registrars attempt to deplatform them, making very expensive to operate any sort of alternative platform that is actually permissive regarding speech.

      That's why we need decentralized, federated platforms that don't require web hosts, payment processors (or payments for that matter) or even domain registrars (with free dynamic DNS services).

      Getting there won't be easy as there are many entrenched players who will fight this really hard [soylentnews.org], as it cuts directly into their slimy, spying, scumbag bottom lines.

      --
      No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @07:07PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @07:07PM (#829454)

      that's what monero is for.