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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday January 25 2018, @07:51PM   Printer-friendly
from the dangerous-precedent dept.

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

The social media giant may be guilty of violating of California law regarding discriminating against a political class, and being deceptive to their customer base. Twitter, by discriminating against people on the right, has exposed itself to a potential cascade of legal liability—including a potential class action suit.

Despite being from dangerous.com, this is not an attempted troll. The author gives a quite interesting analysis of Twitter's potential legal issues in censoring political speech in California.

Source: https://www.dangerous.com/40574/arroz-strong-case-twitter-censorship-violates-californias-civil-rights-laws/


Original Submission

Related Stories

Trial of 2016 Twitter Troll to Test Limits of Online Speech 25 comments

The goal, federal prosecutors said, was to suppress votes for Ms. Clinton by persuading her supporters to falsely believe they could cast presidential ballots by text message:

The misinformation campaign was carried out by a group of conspirators, prosecutors said, including a man in his 20s who called himself Ricky Vaughn. On Monday he will go on trial in Federal District Court in Brooklyn under his real name, Douglass Mackey, after being charged with conspiring to spread misinformation designed to deprive others of their right to vote.

"The defendant exploited a social media platform to infringe one of the most basic and sacred rights guaranteed by the Constitution," Nicholas L. McQuaid, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Criminal Division, said in 2021 when charges against Mr. Mackey were announced.

Prosecutors have said that Mr. Mackey, who went to Middlebury College in Vermont and said he lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, used hashtags and memes as part of his deception and outlined his strategies publicly on Twitter and with co-conspirators in private Twitter group chats.

[...] Mr. Mackey's trial is expected to provide a window into a small part of what the authorities have described as broad efforts to sway the 2016 election through lies and disinformation. While some of those attempts were orchestrated by Russian security services, others were said to have emanated from American internet trolls.

Just a few days ago the trial was delayed after a witness was allegedly intimidated into withdrawing his testimony.

Related:


Original Submission

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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by AndyTheAbsurd on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:13PM (6 children)

    by AndyTheAbsurd (3958) on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:13PM (#627831) Journal

    Strong case by a notorious harrasser [jimchines.com]. I hope he's got a lot of money to hire lawyers, between this and his fight with SFWA and the court costs, he's gonna need it.

    --
    Please note my username before responding. You may have been trolled.
    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:03PM (3 children)

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:03PM (#627924) Homepage Journal

      Ad hom FTW, eh?

      --
      My rights don't end where your fear begins.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:39AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:39AM (#627998)

        You know pedophiles are politically active. I guess they're a protected class now.
        All three branches of our government have now been totally subverted.

        • (Score: 3, Touché) by c0lo on Friday January 26 2018, @02:53AM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 26 2018, @02:53AM (#628052) Journal

          You know pedophiles are politically active.

          I know the contrary, my friend.
          I know the professional politically actives are paedophiles.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @02:50AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @02:50AM (#628050)

        Not in the least. The guy got banned from twitter for doing the same things he got banned from those other places. His behavior has been excessive, to say the least. That means he's got an enormous hurdle to clear with the courts. TL;DR Good Luck With That.

    • (Score: 2) by captain normal on Friday January 26 2018, @03:24AM (1 child)

      by captain normal (2205) on Friday January 26 2018, @03:24AM (#628066)

      I think someone (or some people) need to explain the Troll Mod they flipped out.
      Or has S/N actually become a center for white supremacist trash?

      --
      When life isn't going right, go left.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @09:12AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @09:12AM (#628155)

        No, just people who know some actual alt-right people, and they are not so bad as they are painted to be, they just hate Jews and Blacks and Hispanics, and Injuns, and women. So it's like that. Sympathizers, not actually white supremacists themselves, just "wanna-be" white-supremacists, cause they can't really be, since like weev, they actually are what they hate. Explains the troll mod, no?

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by edIII on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:13PM (62 children)

    by edIII (791) on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:13PM (#627832)

    I hope somebody takes it to Twitter hard. While I have no love for the alt-right and the rise of White Supremacy again in the U.S, I am an American. That means I'll fight and die for the right for others to speak. It's been disgusting behavior coming from a lot of the protesters on the left, such as starting actual fires because somebody would dare speak at a University.

    This to me is an inevitable result of the check-your-privilege bullshit and that's it perfectly legal and okay to hit a Nazi type group-think going on.

    The irony of it all is that Twitter got part of its fame by letting people in different countries communicate and protest without censorship.

    --
    Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:26PM (28 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:26PM (#627837)

      There's just been a rise in "White People Aren't Responsible for Your Failures."

      • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:31PM (25 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:31PM (#627840)

        Sounds like someone hasn't been paying ANY attention, instead blindly applying your own worldview on to the entire country. I wouldn't say there has been a rise in white supremacy, although that may indeed be the case, but I would say that those types certainly have felt more comfortable showing their true selves to the world. Trump's obvious racism has baited them out into the open. If you deny this very obvious fact then you need to seek professional help.

        Have you ever said "I'm not racist but..."? Do you tell racist jokes? Do you think people are too sensitive cause "it's just a joke bro calm down"?

        • (Score: 3, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:38PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:38PM (#627876)

          I'm not seeing "Trump's obvious racism" at all.

          "Muslim" is not a race. "Illegal alien" is not a race. Not even "Mexican" is a race, but Mexico has a racist constitution!

          Trump had a black girlfriend. I guess... he was racist for trying it? He should have ignored her due to her blackness?

          Picture of them together in the late 1990s:
          https://twitter.com/nytpolitics/status/898270757012160512/photo/1 [twitter.com]

          • (Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:00PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:00PM (#627920)

            I'm not seeing "Trump's obvious racism" at all.

            Found the racist!

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:06AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:06AM (#627980)

              Trump is racist for blocking illegal immigrants! Mexico apparently isn't though, they get to actually enforce their own immigration laws.

        • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:25PM (17 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:25PM (#627905)

          Do you think people are too sensitive cause "it's just a joke bro calm down"?

          Absolutely! Taking offense at the smallest fart is becoming more popular than World Cup Soccer! Those people are very much responsible for the discrediting of the legitimate civil rights movement.

          You people need to understand that the right to verbally offend is absolutely sacrosanct. And any attempt at all to suppress it should be met with the most extreme violence possible to send an unmistakable message to the rest that their bullshit will not be tolerated. In other words, all censors shall Fuck Off And Die a most horrible death. It is essential that we fight back and hit hard. Our submissiveness only makes things worse.

          • (Score: 5, Insightful) by insanumingenium on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:46PM (16 children)

            by insanumingenium (4824) on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:46PM (#627911) Journal

            At the risk of feeding trolls, you had me until you mentioned violence. You don't fight censorship with violence, certainly not while there are other options like disobedience, and my all time favorite mockery. Trying to stop censorship with violence is like fucking for virginity, it doesn't work, and it makes you appear at best a foolish hypocrite.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:04PM (14 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:04PM (#627925)
              • If a "private" (non-governmental) institution such as Twitter refuses to publish your statements, then such censorship is not violence; it's just non-association.

              • If a "public" (governmental) institution refuses to publish your statements, then it's veering towards violence: by virtue of being "public", it is forcing you to pay for its activities, so it's ultimately an act of violence to force someone to pay for the publication of statements with which he disagrees (especially if there is no way to counter those disagreeable statements, due to censorship).

              • If any institution uses violence to censor someone (e.g., by throwing that person into a cage), then obviously such censorship is violence, and could justifiably be met with retaliatory violence.

                For instance, in Germany, they'll ultimately put you in a cage (or worse, depending on how much you try to defend yourself) for saying that the Holocaust didn't happen.

              • (Score: 5, Insightful) by frojack on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:25PM (2 children)

                by frojack (1554) on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:25PM (#627952) Journal

                Wait,
                Where did the government become responsible for publishing anyone's statements other than in a court transcript?

                --
                No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
                • (Score: 2) by insanumingenium on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:41PM

                  by insanumingenium (4824) on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:41PM (#627967) Journal

                  Beat me to it!

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @09:08AM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @09:08AM (#628154)

                  Congressional Records? (Thank you, again, Senator Gravel!). And Newspapers of Record? Official notices, stuff like that.

              • (Score: 2) by insanumingenium on Friday January 26 2018, @12:25AM (4 children)

                by insanumingenium (4824) on Friday January 26 2018, @12:25AM (#627991) Journal
                The clear context in this case was private institutions.

                That said my response applies even against violence, disobedience and outright mockery beats the snot our of violence whenever possible. MLK was successful in a way the black panthers never were.
                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @02:31AM (1 child)

                  by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @02:31AM (#628040)

                  I'm not sure what MLK did, other than provide a sound bite to play to schoolchildren annually.

                  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @09:15AM

                    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @09:15AM (#628156)

                    Sheeet! We done found us another racist! Hot dog! How many does that make for this thread? Member this spot, it's dadgum good for racist fishing!

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @04:53AM (1 child)

                  by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @04:53AM (#628101)

                  There is a pretty good argument that MLK was successful at least in part because of the black panthers. They moved the overton window far enough for MLK to seem honest and reasonable.

              • (Score: 2) by Spamalope on Friday January 26 2018, @01:08AM (4 children)

                by Spamalope (5233) on Friday January 26 2018, @01:08AM (#628011) Homepage

                The ideals the censorship and press freedom rules are intended to protect are important. Free public discourse in general, and specifically political and religious speech are to be protected as they're crucial to keeping a free society healthy.
                The international media platforms are the modern hybrid between the public commons and the printing press.
                They've played games to make the political opinions of your fellow citizens appear different than they are to exploit group preference propaganda effects.
                They've represented themselves as politically neutral while behaving as partisans.
                They've engaged in censorship (both people and messages), sometimes in an insidious dishonest fashion. (shadow banning for example)

                As a society we need to hash out how we're going to handle this, as what's going on is substantially weakening one of the protection/counter balances in a free society.

                • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @01:55AM (3 children)

                  by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @01:55AM (#628029)

                  "Put up or shut up". The only problem here is that there is this one particular organization in society (the one that calls itself "government") which decides what to do with society's resources through "do-as-I-say" coercion rather than "do-as-we-previously-agreed" cooperation; democracy is the problem—censorship matters so much, because people vote, and those votes are used to instruct the men-with-guns to fuck someone over.

                  The solution is capitalism: Your "vote" (e.g., your ability to decide what to do with society's resources) is tightly coupled to how productive you are for society, and interaction must occur according to explicit rules (e.g., contracts) to which each party agrees in advance of interaction.

                  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @05:08AM (1 child)

                    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @05:08AM (#628108)

                    "...how productive you are for society..."
                    You mean "how productive your are for your wealthy capitalist overlords".
                    TFTFY

                    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @07:42AM

                      by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @07:42AM (#628142)

                      Maybe a capitalist overlord is better than a non-capitalist overlord.

                  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @09:49AM

                    by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @09:49AM (#628173)

                    That is some serious delusion you've got going on there. Just remember, while in the depths of your cult bake sale, eugenics is bad!

              • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday January 26 2018, @03:56AM

                by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 26 2018, @03:56AM (#628077) Journal

                Several problems with your post, but the one that caught my eye is disregarding network effects. Subsidized by the government.

                I don't have a good answer, but saying "Twitter is a private company, so they can do what they want" while ignoring federal subsidies to their means of communicating, is, at the most charitable, foolish. Also they are clearly engaged in interstate commerce. And even economic relations with foreign powers. So there are lots of arguments for regulating them, and a lot of arguments against doing so. Every simple answer I've looked at is clearly wrong, and most complex arguments seem at best dubious. I haven't seen a single one that looks like a net social positive. As for arguing what the current laws are, if the laws were actually enforced most employees of Twitter and all of management would be in jail. I think most of them are guilty of serious felonies (but I'm not exactly sure which crimes count as serious felonies, so I can't be certain).

                They won't be enforced. They certainly haven't been for multiple decades. And they were never intended to be enforces against "our people".

                --
                Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @03:58AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @03:58AM (#628078)

              It takes at least the threat of violence to enforce censorship. Sure we can let them draw first blood. But then, we must give them a war they won't believe. Remember what Goldwater said: *Extremism in the defense of liberty is not a vice, and moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!* Words to live by. We never acquired our rights through submission to authority. We must make authority serve to protect our rights.

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:28PM (3 children)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:28PM (#627955) Journal

          Trump didn't bring them out. Antifa, among others, did more to bring out racism and latent racism than Trump could ever have done. Take your average white guy, who lives among White, Black, Latino, and Asian neighbors. Run multiple protests through his neighborhood, with the theme, "White men are evil!" What reaction do you expect from that white guy? The exact same reaction one would get from Jews in Europe, or Blacks in Asia, or any other group anywhere else. They band together for comfort and mutual support.

          Today's fascists wear progressive labels, instead of brown shirts, but they are the younger brothers to the people who put Hitler in power.

          • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:01AM (2 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:01AM (#627976)

            Your lunacy seems to have really topped off with the last few political articles. The worst part of Antifa is that they give you worms an excuse to wriggle out of your holes and proclaim the sky is green.

            I'm sure Trump's "Antiiiifffaaaaaa" proclamations had noooothing to do with your ignorance and anger. At least he made sure everyone knows that all Latino immigrants are murdering thieving rapists /s

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:37AM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:37AM (#627997)

              Tell us what happened to the Jews in Europe when powerful people started hating on them.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @09:51AM

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @09:51AM (#628174)

                In this case it is backwards, so trying to play the victim is dumb. Muh oppreshun!

      • (Score: 5, Informative) by unauthorized on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:04PM (1 child)

        by unauthorized (3776) on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:04PM (#627859)

        Yes there has. White nationalists are racial supremacists who are too "cucked" to admit they are.

        • (Score: 0, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:07PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:07PM (#627899)

          Agreed. Same for La Raza and groups like Black Panther.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:35PM (9 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:35PM (#627842)

      > that's it perfectly legal and okay to hit a Nazi type group-think

      Or someone you called a Nazi five seconds before you started swinging.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:07PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:07PM (#627861)

        I believe EDIII is on the liberal side of things actually, but apparently defending the civil liberties of shitheads automatically makes you also a shithead. Someone should tell the ACLU!

        • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:54PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:54PM (#627889)

          The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
                          - H. L. Mencken

          • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:11PM (1 child)

            by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:11PM (#627929) Homepage Journal

            Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
                      - H. L. Mencken

            No mention of Mencken is complete without that quote.

            --
            My rights don't end where your fear begins.
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @03:45AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @03:45AM (#628075)

              No mention of Mencken is complete without that quote.

              Why? Doesn't seem particularly relevant to anything here.

      • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:10PM (3 children)

        by Thexalon (636) on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:10PM (#627862)

        The funny thing is the number of people with that kind of viewpoint that are saying "No, we're not Nazis, we're just hanging out with a group of white people who hate non-whites and Jews and appropriate Norse symbolism and use German words and phrases to advocate for basically the same ideology as the Nazis did."

        That said, punching them is not the right response, unless they're trying to punch you. Which sometimes they are.

        --
        The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:56PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:56PM (#627916)

          That said, punching them is not the right response

          Sorry bro, bashing them requires more muscle mass than I have.

        • (Score: 5, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:12PM

          by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:12PM (#627932) Homepage Journal

          Count the actual numbers. They're a pathetic, non-issue boogie-man. They're just loud about it.

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday January 26 2018, @03:40AM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 26 2018, @03:40AM (#628072) Journal

          The funny thing is the number of people with that kind of viewpoint that are saying "No, we're not Nazis, we're just hanging out with a group of white people who hate non-whites and Jews and appropriate Norse symbolism and use German words and phrases to advocate for basically the same ideology as the Nazis did."

          The number is zero, amirite?

      • (Score: 2) by chromas on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:38PM

        by chromas (34) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:38PM (#627965) Journal

        Punch a Nazi! [youtube.com]

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:17PM (22 children)

      by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:17PM (#627866) Journal

      coming from a lot of the protesters on the left, such as starting actual fires because somebody would dare speak at a University.

      How about running down a young woman with a car for exercising her own first amendment rights? "The Left" has yet to kill a person over freedom of expression.

      To act like this is a one-sided problem is counter factual.

      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by edIII on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:33PM (12 children)

        by edIII (791) on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:33PM (#627873)

        Oh, I'm not saying it is one sided at all. What I am saying is that Left's shit does in fact stink too. By Left, I'm really referring to far left whackjobs, not necessarily liberals in general.

        Just because the Left hasn't killed anyone yet, is not a reason to condone the shameful behavior of some of the Left. Specifically the check-your-privilege crazy motherfuckers, and those that can't possibly stand Milo saying some words in a University. Universities used to be a place for critical debate, but to deny the debate, start fires, and acting shamefully isn't helping anyone. We should welcome those people to the debate, all show up, and then destroy them with words and rational thought.

        But protesting in general has become far too violent. Really wish Dr. King were back with us.

        Back to the reason why we are talking about this, Twitter. They've become a gateway to a communications platform in which people very much are holding a form of public debate. Yes, they're a private corporation, but when you get large enough, have a majority of the marketshare, you have obligations to society. IMHO, one of those obligations is to stay neutral as much as possible and only stop truly dangerous speech. The threshold for that is very high, as it should be.

        Like I said, I've no love for alt-right and White Supremacist movement going on, but that doesn't mean that some of the Left haven't lost their god damned minds.

        --
        Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
        • (Score: 5, Interesting) by c0lo on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:31PM (11 children)

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:31PM (#627958) Journal

          Specifically the check-your-privilege crazy motherfuckers, and those that can't possibly stand Milo saying some words in a University. Universities used to be a place for critical debate, but to deny the debate, start fires, and acting shamefully isn't helping anyone.

          The rational reaction to a troll is not to debate with it, it is to ignore it**
          Until you realize that others aren't able of rationality, can't detect a troll so they become "infected" (or just uninhibited, like the white sups) and start behaving trollish in the physical sense.
          Which (already visible) progression triggers a (non-rational) reaction: fear. If you are young and impressive and boiling with hormones, you'll be shitting your pants, throw rationality aside and start fires.

          What's the solution? Not an easy one to expose, but certainly:
          - involves "do not feed the troll in the first place" - can't have a debate in Gish gallop [wikipedia.org] style, even if a show with two gish gallopers may be a vacuous piece of entertaining;
          - does not involve put a fist into troll's mouth, much less bury him 6 foot under.

          ---
          ** do you actually believe Milo is anything else but a troll?
             

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:45AM (10 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:45AM (#628001)

            The rational reaction to a troll is not to debate with it, it is to ignore it**

            You can't ignore it. They'll just go underground and find an echo chamber while claiming to be a victim of censorship, thereby making them seem even more credible in the eyes of dummies who find them. If you're right that people will mindlessly listen to such people, then we're doomed no matter what, but less doomed if they are openly challenged.

            Plus, your 'deplatform this person for being stupid and wrong' approach is often turned against people who are actually correct, such as those who were against the Iraq war in the early years. You say we shouldn't engage such people, but that is actually a worse option than publicly opposing them. Not to mention that I respect the principle of (rather than just the legal implementation of) free speech.

            • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Friday January 26 2018, @01:50AM (1 child)

              by aristarchus (2645) on Friday January 26 2018, @01:50AM (#628027) Journal

              This:

              You can't ignore it. They'll just go underground and find an echo chamber while claiming to be a victim of censorship, thereby making them seem even more credible in the eyes of dummies who find them. If you're right that people will mindlessly listen to such people, then we're doomed no matter what, but less doomed if they are openly challenged.

              is competely wrong.

              • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday January 26 2018, @02:50AM

                by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 26 2018, @02:50AM (#628049) Journal

                Stating the evident, one letter at a time, magister, aren't you?

                What else can one do, though?
                No, seriously, don't take it as rhetorical Q. There's seldom a single solution, what others are there?

                --
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
            • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday January 26 2018, @02:38AM (7 children)

              by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 26 2018, @02:38AM (#628044) Journal

              Not only you can, you must do it if you want to be successful.
              The troll wants all the oxygen he can get to burn the discontent of a disillusioned society (even if it results in burning down the society itself)
              If you want to do something that matters in this regard, your (and others) time and resources are better spent in making the world around you just a little bit better everyday - in other words, make that dead wood he wants to burn a fertile/productive tree.

              BTW - if you expect help or initiative in this direction from your govt or corporations, you are naive: it is them who are encouraging you, the American people, to waste yourself in infights because it serve their purposes - keep you under their control. Forget about them, forget about irrelevant differences between you, remember that competition can happen between healthy entities and cooperation is better when you aren't in the peak form and start building something by your-many-self.

              --
              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @02:59AM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @02:59AM (#628057)

                BTW - if you expect help or initiative in this direction from your govt or corporations, you are naive: it is them who are encouraging you,

                You know, just like citizens aren't a monolithic group, neither are corps or government agencies. Your grouping of all them into the category of enemy blinds you to potential allies. It was the actions of some corps and the governments of other states that made Mike Pence back down on discriminating against trans people in Indiana as well as the legislatures in North Carolina and Texas.

                • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday January 26 2018, @08:12AM

                  by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 26 2018, @08:12AM (#628145) Journal

                  You know, just like citizens aren't a monolithic group, neither are corps or government agencies.

                  No, they are competing with each other who is gonna take the control over who and what aspects of your life.

                  . Your grouping of all them into the category of enemy blinds you to potential allies.

                  You meant "potential protectors"? 'Cause that's what you call an ally with more power than you.

                  It was the actions of some corps and the governments of other states that made Mike Pence back down on discriminating against trans people in Indiana as well as the legislatures in North Carolina and Texas.

                  Sure, opportunistic and temporary collaboration with well defined outcomes is possible - doesn't even needs to be dishonest.
                  Get into a long term coalition with them and you are toast.

                  --
                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @07:06AM (4 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 27 2018, @07:06AM (#628743)

                Not only you can, you must do it if you want to be successful.

                Well, you can ignore it, but it doesn't mean that others will. What evidence do you have that censorship and suppression will actually get rid of the Bad Guys?

                If you want to do something that matters in this regard, your (and others) time and resources are better spent in making the world around you just a little bit better everyday - in other words, make that dead wood he wants to burn a fertile/productive tree.

                I see upholding the principle of freedom of speech as making the world a better place.

                • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday January 27 2018, @07:26AM (3 children)

                  by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Saturday January 27 2018, @07:26AM (#628746) Journal

                  What evidence do you have that censorship and suppression will actually get rid of the Bad Guys?

                  You don't censor them, I never said that.
                  I simply said "don't feed a troll" - his right of free speech does not in anyway imply my obligation to listen, much less to reply.
                  If I consider the best reaction is to ignore him and use the time in a more productive or relaxing way, I'm not infringing his right of free speech.
                  I'm saying "doing anything else is a better use of time and energy than feeding a troll, you aren't going to win because there's nothing to win from a troll".

                  There, revisit this [soylentnews.org] and read again:

                  [the solution] - does not involve put[ting] a fist into troll's mouth

                  --
                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
                  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday January 27 2018, @11:37AM (2 children)

                    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Saturday January 27 2018, @11:37AM (#628806) Homepage Journal

                    If I consider the best reaction is to ignore him and use the time in a more productive or relaxing way, I'm not infringing his right of free speech.

                    Right, but when have you ever done that? You like giving people shit as much as I do.

                    --
                    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
                    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Saturday January 27 2018, @12:13PM (1 child)

                      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Saturday January 27 2018, @12:13PM (#628817) Journal

                      Right, but when have you ever done that? You like giving people shit as much as I do.

                      People, yes. But I have big troubles putting Milo in the "people" category, I simply can't.

                      And I do challenge you to find any of my comments mentioning Milo other than the ones in the current story (even here, he's rather generically referred as one of the trolls).

                      --
                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:48PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:48PM (#627881)

        There is a tiny shred of actual truth in that fake news.

        1. A foolish driver, not part of the protest or counter-protest, drove through the area.

        2. Antifa ran toward the car with a rifle. This is admitted.

        3. The driver panicked, as he ought to.

        4. A person got hit by the car, though not run over or killed.

        5. An extremely obese person suffered a heart attack and died as a result.

        Meanwhile, "The Left" has killed millions upon millions over freedom of expression. Che was not a nice man. Stalin was not a nice man. Chavez was not a nice man.

        • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:54PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:54PM (#627890)

          Well, then you shouldn't mind when you're called "literally Hitler" then!

          • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:05PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:05PM (#627897)

            Unless you are a communist, which was popular in the 1930s, Hitler is to your left. He opposed capitalism, just not as much as Marx and Lenin and Trotsky and Stalin.

            • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:17PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:17PM (#627937)

              The plane took off a while ago, did you not hear it pass way over your head?

      • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:16PM (2 children)

        by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:16PM (#627935) Homepage Journal

        Not for lack of trying. See the Antifa shithead who was going around trying to crack skulls with a lock on the end of a chain. And there are a fuckload more insane leftists than there are white supremacists. Not violent white supremacists. Total white supremacists.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:06AM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:06AM (#627979)

          Well being mentally challenged I guess we can't expect you to do basic math. Even here in CA I see more violence from racist shitbags than any antifa shitheads. Keep trying to play the victim minority card, it is pathetic but a little entertaining. MUH OPPRESSION BROTHER!

      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:32PM (1 child)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:32PM (#627959) Journal

        Obviously, you've forgotten about Bill Ayers, and Patty Hearst, among others. Basically, you're claiming that no murder charges have stuck to a lefty in recent years.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:10AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:10AM (#627984)

          Heh, that's the best you've got? Yeaaaah, kinda illustrates the point. Crazy righty is much more dangerous than crazy lefty. On top of that, Ayers was an anti-government activist, I would think you 2nd amendment folks would appreciate someone doing their duty to fight against the oppressive government yoke! Hypocrites for days.

          Go suck a lemon, might sweeten you up.

  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:14PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:14PM (#627833)

    This is America. Taking up air is a ground for lawsuits.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:29PM (38 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:29PM (#627839)

    If you want to censor someone, just mod a few of his comments as "Troll".

    Due to excessive bad posting from this IP or Subnet, anonymous comment posting has temporarily been disabled. You can still login to post. However, if bad posting continues from your IP or Subnet that privilege could be revoked as well. If it's you, consider this a chance to sit in the timeout corner or login and improve your posting. If it's someone else, this is a chance to hunt them down. If you think this is unfair, please email admin@soylentnews.org with your MD5'd IPID and SubnetID, which are "[REDACTED]" and "[REDACTED]".

    Or, just make commenting laborious:

    Invalid form key: 3BhwogEzWh

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:34PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:34PM (#627841)

      I dislike the spam prevention system myself as it is often a problem on mobile networks, but it isn't true censorship. I think you need to hang out with Algernon a bit more.

    • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:50PM (35 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @08:50PM (#627852)

      This. Soylent mods are nearly as flippant with their use of mod points as those on the green site.

      Someone disagreeing with you isn't the same thing as "trolling" or "flamebait".

      • (Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:03PM (8 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:03PM (#627858)

        The mod system is community based, you can hate it all you want but it boils down to human opinion. Post the same lame crap repeatedly and people will recognize it and mark it spam / troll / flamebait. May people still see downmodded comments, but I won't begrudge people for choosing not to see comments that many other people feel are trash.

        So, if you are routinely downmodded it is your own fault. Try altering your writing style slightly and make sure your comments are at least slightly on topic instead of having the article's topic there for your soap boxing.

        • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:14PM (5 children)

          by Thexalon (636) on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:14PM (#627864)

          The mod system is community based, you can hate it all you want but it boils down to human opinion.

          Furthermore, a lot of people have a lot of mod points, so the "wisdom of crowds" theory of how the mod system works is basically "If one person unjustly mods down your posts, a bunch of other people will mod it up, or vice versa." In my experience, that works pretty well, and I say that as someone who experienced somebody with mod posts going through and modding down every post I had made in the last 3 days because they didn't like the arguments I was making - the posts that mod was trying to silence ended up +5.

          --
          The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:02PM (4 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @10:02PM (#627895)

            You're mistaking wide support for being correct, a fault in thinking\ that occurs over and over throughout history.

            • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:19PM

              by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:19PM (#627939) Homepage Journal

              Naw, there are plenty of us around here who will mod something we disagree extremely strongly with up if we see it being unfairly modded down.

              --
              My rights don't end where your fear begins.
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:13AM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @12:13AM (#627987)

              Just because there is a grain of truth in your thought does not mean that your posts are the exception that proves crowd wisdom wrong. Right and wrong are often a very fuzzy concept, and depending on the context the same exact through could be considered both. Stop complaining and start working on your writing approach.

            • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday January 26 2018, @12:16AM

              by Thexalon (636) on Friday January 26 2018, @12:16AM (#627990)

              I think you're mistaking ideas being your own for being correct, a fault in thinking that occurs over and over throughout history.

              --
              The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:17PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:17PM (#627865)

          If you think "writing style" is why downvotes happen, I really don't know what to tell you.

          If I cared about mod points, I wouldn't post as AC, but I can't help but notice an ideological bent to how they end up distributed. You can deny it if you want, it's there. Maybe not as bad as Reddit and Slashdot, but it absolutely exists.

          • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:22PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:22PM (#627942)

            Bud you have some serious confirmation bias gong on there. I routinely notice "liberal" posts getting downmodded, right along with "conservative" ones. We need the quotes cause usually they are ACs like you. If you want to convey a message you must do so in a way that is not antagonistic. Trying to "red pill" everyone with your truth bombs or whatever is seen as trollish spam. Like the "series of voluntary contracts" AC, just spamming the same shit over and over earns a very bad rep and will then get downmodded as repeated spam on the next story.

            Ignore reality all you want, pretend you're a poor persecuted AC, victim of a massive conspiracy against conservatives. Or join the real world and realize screaming at a room is the quickest way to empty it out.

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by tangomargarine on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:35PM

        by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday January 25 2018, @09:35PM (#627874)

        Be the change you want to see, Mr. AC.

        --
        "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
      • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by aristarchus on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:05PM (24 children)

        by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:05PM (#627926) Journal

        Someone disagreeing with you isn't the same thing as "trolling" or "flamebait".

        Actually, it is, just as posting submissions about the racist right, or the "alt-right" as Richard Spensor dubbed it is also, apparenty, trolling or flamebaiting. At least the eds seem to think so. Good thing SoylentNews is not in California!

        • (Score: 4, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:20PM (23 children)

          by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:20PM (#627941) Homepage Journal

          You know a good way to get your subs accepted? Don't be a shithead while writing them.

          --
          My rights don't end where your fear begins.
          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:24PM (3 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:24PM (#627947)

            See oh whiny AC? Ultra liberal aristarchus seems to have similar problems. Go read his submissions and see if you can find the correlation.

            • (Score: 2, Redundant) by aristarchus on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:34PM (2 children)

              by aristarchus (2645) on Thursday January 25 2018, @11:34PM (#627961) Journal

              Who has EVER claimed I am a "liberal"? I am a philosopher. Enough said.

              • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday January 26 2018, @04:01AM (1 child)

                by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 26 2018, @04:01AM (#628079) Journal

                Who has EVER claimed I am a "liberal"?

                AC just did!

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @03:40AM (18 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @03:40AM (#628073)

            You know a good way to get your subs accepted? Don't be a shithead while writing them.

            In a story that you submitted about people supposedly being censored for their so-called 'identity' you have just applied the exact same rationale for censoring aristarchus's submissions as twitter has for censoring the assholes of the alt-reich - don't be a shithead.

            The irony burns it fucking burns!!!

            • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Friday January 26 2018, @03:54AM (17 children)

              by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Friday January 26 2018, @03:54AM (#628076) Homepage Journal

              On the contrary, when he's not overly shitheadish with his subs, they get published. A good rule of thumb is don't go beyond one, maybe two, sentences of biased snark in the summary. That's what the comments area is for.

              --
              My rights don't end where your fear begins.
              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @04:15AM (16 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 26 2018, @04:15AM (#628082)

                "Just post in the comments then" is the same thing as telling alt-reich shitheads to just open a new account. You are banning his ability to have his submissions seen by everyone based on the content, that's censorship by alt-reich standards.

                • (Score: 4, Informative) by janrinok on Friday January 26 2018, @08:06AM (15 children)

                  by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 26 2018, @08:06AM (#628144) Journal

                  You are banning his ability to have his submissions seen by everyone based on the content

                  Let me dispel this accusation quickly. I am now speaking as Editor-in-Chief, a role which means I am ultimately responsible to the board - and to the community - for the content that we publish. We have not, do not, and hopefully will never censor comments, unless legally obliged to do so. Comments are the views of private individuals and the only moderation is that given by the community itself.

                  However, the requirement for submissions is quite different. The entire editorial team goes to great lengths to ensure that stories are interesting, factual, accurate and unbiased, and it is the failure to meet these requirements that causes most submission rejections. Other reasons include when we receive several submissions over a protracted period of time which basically cover the same issue. Rehashing the same story does not increase your chances of having a submission accepted. We are trying to provide material that will encourage an intelligent discussion from which we can all benefit and, perhaps, be entertained and educated.

                  Political submissions are difficult to process in the usual way - they invariably see the story from one viewpoint or another and often are biased by their very nature and content. I, personally, would have been happier if we had never had the 'Politics' nexus but, as the requirement is to serve the community, I have to live with the decisions that the community has made. So we view each political story as the same as any other to the maximum extent possible, accepting that it will probably contain some bias. Is it interesting, factual and accurate, and is it a story that has not been covered recently and which can create an intelligent discussion? Submitting the same old rhetoric every few days is a very quick way to have your submissions rejected. Has the submitter tried to look at the issue from another other point of view? If not, then it will probably not see the front page.

                  Politics is different in other ways, too. Comments are made by people who usually already have a well establish position and no amount of intelligent analysis and discussion will change that. I have never seen a discussion on a political story that has sensibly argued a case which has changed the position taken by another commenter. The moderation system also tends to fail because people just moderate based on their own political leanings and not based on the arguments being made by others. Don't like someone else's politics - they mark them as Spam, Troll or whatever. The 'Politics' nexus has, I believe, brought the worst out in our community without making a significant improvement in our output.

                  Is there a place for biased political discussions - YES! Put them on your journal page where they will still be read by those that want to see them but where you have to put your name to them. We do not censor journal stories so you can have your say and your discussion without having to go through the editorial filter that is an essential part of keeping this site alive and interesting to the majority of the community.

                  And ACs, if you don't like the fact that you haven't got a journal page, then give yourself a nickname and make an account and all of your problems are solved. If your anonymity is more important than having your say then please do not complain about it. None of the big names that have shaped our world have done so from a position of anonymity - they have entered the history books where their names are clear for all to see.

                  • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by aristarchus on Friday January 26 2018, @09:26AM (13 children)

                    by aristarchus (2645) on Friday January 26 2018, @09:26AM (#628162) Journal

                    If only, janrinok, your explanation had any connection to reality.

                    • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Friday January 26 2018, @09:41AM (12 children)

                      by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 26 2018, @09:41AM (#628168) Journal

                      Feel free to message me directly, or send an email with your specific concerns and I will try to explain why your submission(s) did not reach the front page. This is a genuine offer, but please make sure that you have read and understood what I have already written. I that stopped the release of the submission that had been accepted a few days ago - it did not, IMHO, reach the standards that we expect. I will be the first to admit, however, that the system is not perfect and if I/we have made a mistake I will admit it and rectify it if at all possible.

                      • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Friday January 26 2018, @09:41AM (11 children)

                        by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 26 2018, @09:41AM (#628170) Journal
                        * "It was I that stopped ...."
                        • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Friday January 26 2018, @10:24PM (10 children)

                          by aristarchus (2645) on Friday January 26 2018, @10:24PM (#628586) Journal

                          You were out of the loop for a while, correct, janrinok? Good to have you back! This all started after Charlottesville, when one editor, and one non-editor, objected to a submission of mine on the alt-right, claiming that I was trying to paint all conservatives "with a broad brush". That submission was also blocked, and I did put it in my journal, along with some telling IRC dialogue. There has been a clear attempt to ignore submissions critical of, or even about, the alt-right, which is why I keep submitting them. And there has been some interesting dialogue on the few that have made it through the embargo. Sorry, but I do not see that I am the problem here. You can keep rejecting my submissions, if you so desire. But let's be honest about what is going on.

                          • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Saturday January 27 2018, @01:54AM (9 children)

                            by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Saturday January 27 2018, @01:54AM (#628675) Journal
                            I have responded by direct message, Please move this conversation to your journal if you wish it to continue in public.
                            • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday January 27 2018, @06:51AM (8 children)

                              by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday January 27 2018, @06:51AM (#628739) Journal

                              You are aware, janrinok, that lowly Soylentils have no Direct Message capability, though it has been asked for in the past. So I am not able to respond to you in "private". And I am not sure this is the time, or the place, to respond in public. But again, thank you for the responses and the measured and rational discussion of the issues. But I think it is obvious to any objective reader that we have problem with censorship right here on SoylentNews.

                              • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Saturday January 27 2018, @07:52AM (7 children)

                                by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Saturday January 27 2018, @07:52AM (#628752) Journal

                                And as I have explained, I do not agree that any censorship is taking place. You are free to publish whatever you wish on your journal pages. The editorial team are responsible for ensuring that all stories that appear on the front page meet specific requirements to protect the site from possible litigation.

                                • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday January 27 2018, @08:17AM (6 children)

                                  by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday January 27 2018, @08:17AM (#628760) Journal

                                  I would respond, except that I cannot, since I do not have access to direct messaging. That was my point. Whether you agree or not is immaterial. Someone is going to sue SoylentNews over what I submit? That is laughable. Takyon his own self has committed actionable libel against space companies, just recently. And you really think that one of these neo-nazi alt-right personas are going to sue for defamation? My god, man, they are neo-nazi white supremacist alt-right fascists! They are proud (boys!) at being called out. But, nice excuse for suppressing the left-leaning, or as we ourselves call it, the "reality based community". So please, disagree, or get me direct messaging capability. I want to send private messages to khallow. I feel he needs them.

                                  • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:05AM (5 children)

                                    by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:05AM (#628773) Journal

                                    I would respond, except that I cannot, since I do not have access to direct messaging.

                                    You could try email - our addresses are easy enough to find: editors_name@soylentnews.org. Secondly, and for the umpteenth time, please start a journal entry to that we can take this conversation there.

                                    Someone is going to sue SoylentNews over what I submit?

                                    You scoff at this concept? Only a few weeks ago you made a submission that claimed a prominent person in the alt-right community had been arrested by the police for causing an affray outside a venue at which he was appearing. That claim was totally wrong. Two other individuals with no connection to the person you named were responsible. The source material that you 'quoted' clearly stated that the 2 individuals had been detained and charged. That alone would have left both you and us liable for litigation in the US had we published it.

                                    neo-nazi alt-right personas are going to sue for defamation? My god, man, they are neo-nazi white supremacist alt-right fascists!

                                    Again, you seem to be letting your own extreme political views show. They are exactly the people who might sue us for the publicity value alone - never mind the kudos of being able to claim that they had the site shut down. As your submissions tend to be littered with similar statements you might soon begin to understand why they are not being accepted for the front page. Put them in your journal!

                                    Finally, unless you take this discussion elsewhere I will have to stop responding to your accusations. This is OFF-TOPIC for this story.

                                    • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:21AM (4 children)

                                      by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:21AM (#628776) Journal

                                      Someone is going to sue SoylentNews over what I submit?

                                      You scoff at this concept? Only a few weeks ago you made a submission that claimed a prominent person in the alt-right community had been arrested by the police for causing an affray outside a venue at which he was appearing. That claim was totally wrong./quote?

                                      janrinok, I thought you might be rational! Take a look again. I was not claiming that, Australian press was. And besides, Milo is a public persona, by his own making, and neither I nor the Australian press claimed that he had been arrested, only that he was responsible for there being violence and arrests. Is it the basic lack or reading comprehension that is the problem with my submissions? Go back, read again, you have nothing to worry about lawsuits from my submissions. Collaboration with Nazis, however, has resulted in rather nastly legal consequences in the recent past. Ask Sebastian!

                                      • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:22AM

                                        by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:22AM (#628778) Journal

                                        And thank goodness I am quoting myself, so i will not be legally liable for being a Soylentil!

                                      • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:42AM (2 children)

                                        by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Saturday January 27 2018, @09:42AM (#628781) Journal

                                        Now you are being dishonest. I returned the submission to you and you rewrote it. This conversation is now closed unless you contact me via other means.

                                        • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday January 27 2018, @10:03AM (1 child)

                                          by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday January 27 2018, @10:03AM (#628786) Journal

                                          NO, you still did not understand the submission, and you said last comment that you were not going to respond. Are we accomplishing anything here, janrinok? SoylentNews is a hive of alt-right scum and villainy, and it might just be well to come out and admit it. Continue to exercise your judgment as you see fit, I have no problem with that. But it will continue to make SoylentNews appear to be right-leaning. At least that should keep all the alt-right, alt-light, alt-wrong, and just plain Nazis from suing to take down one of their main supporters. Now, seriously, we have to stop meeting like this! We should be talking about Twitter censoring those innocent people with slightly different views about how we should kill all the jews, and gypsies, and Communists, and Slavs, and orangutans. Oh, and the gays.

                                          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 29 2018, @11:21PM

                                            by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 29 2018, @11:21PM (#630091)

                                            Some of us would kill off the Greeks with dementia, and learn to get along with all the rest.

                  • (Score: 2) by insanumingenium on Friday January 26 2018, @10:05PM

                    by insanumingenium (4824) on Friday January 26 2018, @10:05PM (#628574) Journal

                    I don't beat my meat in the hopes of disfiguring it, just for kicks, and maybe even the horrific response of any bystanders. I view political commentary much the same.

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