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posted by takyon on Friday November 02 2018, @08:30AM   Printer-friendly
from the Doge-coin-in-my-wallet dept.

From the very richest Forbes Magazine (reprint) come news of a nefarious plot:

There's no better example of the power, and the terror, inspired by blockchain than Gab.com, the social network used by the accused Pittsburgh synagogue gunman to threaten Jews.

About a month and a half before the alleged gunman made good on those threats by opening fire in a Pittsburgh synagogue and killing 11 people, Gab submitted paperwork to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise $10 million via an initial coin offering (ICO). The offering, dated September 18, 2018, has so far received commitments to raise $5.6 million in capital for the "free speech" social network, which is a favorite of white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other members of the "alt-right."

Since the shooting on Saturday, Gab has been shut down by a host of mainstream services including payment processors Stripe and Paypal, Web-hosting company Joyent and briefly, domain registry GoDaddy. But that might not matter, because Gab has already taken the first step toward freeing itself from dependence on traditional infrastructure and support mechanisms, thanks to its funding via the ethereum blockchain. Ultimately Gab's goal is to build an entire ecosystem beyond the reach of centralized authorities—whether Facebook, Twitter or venture capitalists—making it nearly indestructible. On this, the tenth anniversary of the publication of Satoshi Nakamoto's whitepaper, which gave birth to bitcoin, Gab epitomizes the darker consequences of his vision.

[...] Gab can also use other blockchain services if mainstream providers try to kick it off the internet by refusing to provide critical services. If Gab needs to replace GoDaddy for domain service (the addresses people use to find websites), Ethereum Name Service provides domains for decentralized applications built on the ethereum blockchain. Web hosting? No problem. Ethereum's Substratum provides a decentralized alternative to Joyent. Others have already pioneered the idea. PeepEth is a nascent ethereum-powered social network, and Mastadon is a blockchain-based Twitter.

Previously: Social Media and the Pittsburgh Shooter: Gab.com Going Down


Original Submission

Related Stories

Social Media and the Pittsburgh Shooter: Gab.com Going Down 116 comments

The social network gab.com is apparently going down on Monday, October 29th at 09:00 ET. Their ISP has terminated their services, ostensibly because Robert Bowers, the Pittsburgh mass shooting suspect, had made offensive posts on Gab.

To get this out of the way: I have mixed feelings about Gab, more specifically, about the founders. However, the idea that some social network somewhere should refuse to censor anything that is not outright illegal? This is good. Social media has become the modern "market square", and free speech should be guaranteed, even if the platforms are technically private.

If you want free speech, you apparently don't want to be in the U.S.


Original Submission

Gab is Back 68 comments

https://gab.ai/news/2958

Why Epik welcomed Gab.com
This post will summarize why Epik welcomed Gab.com. It will also address why I believe the operators of the site have the right to be online.
epik.com

So, who the heck is Epik? Never heard of them.

https://gab.ai/news/2957

After GoDaddy cut ties following Pittsburgh shooting, Gab back online thanks to Seattle startup
A Seattle startup has inked a deal to host domain registrar services for Gab.com, the site that was dropped by GoDaddy and other companies in the wake of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.
www.geekwire.com

The story is here: https://epik.com/blog/why-epik-welcomed-gab-com.html

Gab Targeted by Pennsylvania Attorney General 48 comments

Gab cries foul as Pennsylvania attorney general subpoenas DNS provider

Pennsylvania attorney general Josh Shapiro is probing Gab's relationship with its new domain name provider, Epik. A subpoena sent to Epik, dated Wednesday, seeks "any and all documents which are related in any way to Gab." In a statement to Ars, Gab described the investigation as a "baseless, political, and emotionally-driven witch hunt."

[...] Eric Goldman, a legal scholar at Santa Clara University, told us that the law is clear that Gab would not be liable for hosting content from the Pittsburgh shooter. Not only are the posts likely protected by the First Amendment, but a law called Section 230 gives service providers like Gab—not to mention upstream service providers like GoDaddy and Epik—an extra layer of protection against liability for user-submitted content.

So then what is Pennsylvania's attorney general investigating? Shapiro's office hasn't returned emails and a phone call asking about that. But two legal scholars I talked to for this story couldn't think of a legitimate reason for seeking these kinds of documents. "I struggle to see a legit basis for this," said Ken White, a First Amendment attorney and the proprietor of the popular Popehat blog. Seeking information about Gab's DNS provider "doesn't make any sense at all," legal scholar Eric Goldman told us. In another now-deleted tweet, Gab described the subpoena as a form of harassment. Could this be an attempt to punish Epik for doing business with Gab? Goldman described this as plausible and said that this kind of tactic could raise First Amendment issues. [...] Goldman doubted that an attorney general sending out subpoenas would be enough, on its own, to violate the First Amendment. But if it were part of a broader campaign to discourage providers from doing business with Gab, that could raise significant free speech concerns.

Previously: Social Media and the Pittsburgh Shooter: Gab.com Going Down
Gab's Plan To Use Blockchain To Make Itself Indestructible
Gab is Back


Original Submission

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(1) 2
  • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday November 02 2018, @08:44AM

    by MostCynical (2589) on Friday November 02 2018, @08:44AM (#756772) Journal

    everyone loves to mock blockchain...
    Blockchain this and blockchain that..

    Quite ironic if the answer to the problems raised in the previous [soylentnews.org] story turns out to be blockchain-based.

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by bradley13 on Friday November 02 2018, @09:14AM (47 children)

    by bradley13 (3053) on Friday November 02 2018, @09:14AM (#756774) Homepage Journal

    It really gets tiresome, reading things like "white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other members of the 'alt-right.'"

    Guess what, the left has it's unpleasant people as well. Antifa, for example, is all for violence [thehill.com]. The "alt-right" is nothing more than conservatives who see the futility of trying to "get along" with the progressives, because the only way to get along with progressives/SJWs is to give into their agenda.

    Of course some extremists groups are also part of the alt-right. However, letting the left paint the whole movement with a broad brush? Nope, not gonna accept that. Not unless the progressives admit that they are all violent left-wing terrorists.

    As for Gab: Yes, there were/are some unpleasant people posting there. For all its faults, Gab tried/tries to truly just be a public platform, with little or no censorship. Maybe it became an alt-right echo chamber - why should anyone care? Progressives are apparently incapable of tolerating the mere existence of people who disagree with them...

    --
    Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
    • (Score: 5, Touché) by bzipitidoo on Friday November 02 2018, @10:29AM

      by bzipitidoo (4388) on Friday November 02 2018, @10:29AM (#756782) Journal

      GoDaddy and Paypal are hardly bastions of liberalism, and I doubt the rest are either. Have you never seen a typical GoDaddy commercial from a few years ago?

      Also, consider this report is from Forbes. Forbes isn't as bad as Fox News, but they still have plenty of bias. Yes, I rather think Forbes would like to portray leftists as no different than anyone else in their desire to censor and control. No, this smacks more of the business wing of the conservatives wanting to keep a tight lid on the crazy alt-righties, and fling some mud at the left as an easily done little extra bonus.

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:51PM (8 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:51PM (#756816)

      The mainstream media has become so disgusting and untrusted that some of the most liberal people I know are starting to question the standard negative portrayal of 1930s to 1940s nazis. It is really ridiculous how wrong the msm seem to be about everything whenever you look into it... so the appropriate heuristic is now to just believe the opposite. They couldnt be doing more damage to their various stated causes.

      • (Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @01:58PM (7 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @01:58PM (#756837)

        After Trump won the election, the Left has lost its collective mind.
        Trump Derangement Syndrome is real. CNN in particular has gone down the tubes compared to what it was. NPR too. HARD LEFT, white men BAD!, all the freaking time.

        • (Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @03:14PM (6 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @03:14PM (#756876)

          Left lost it's mind way before the elections and Trump victory is the result. Liberals believe that only they have brains and the rest of population - fly over people - should be graceful - rational - for a bone thrown to them every now and then.

          I don't like Trump, but I hate Clinton gang. period.

          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday November 02 2018, @04:05PM

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 02 2018, @04:05PM (#756894) Journal

            Bastards have never thrown me a bone! The bone is a lie! The cake is a lie! LIES, LIES, LIES!! And, that cream gravy looks awfully suspicious . . .

          • (Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Friday November 02 2018, @05:05PM (4 children)

            by hemocyanin (186) on Friday November 02 2018, @05:05PM (#756926) Journal

            The "left" you refer to is the center-right Democrat demographic.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:31PM (3 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:31PM (#756946)

              The culture wars are hard left.
              This is where they lost me.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @06:41PM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @06:41PM (#756994)

                Culture wars are where you lost! Millennials are abandoning grandpa's "Ron Paul" racist alt-right libertariantardism completely. Abraham Lincoln was a member of the Free Soil Party, you know, birthright citizenship? before he joined the Republicans. Pat Buchanan has lost to David Duke. Time for all these neo-nazi, neo-confederate, neo-alt-right types to go Galt into their own "alt-economy" complete with "alt-sex" and "alt-intelligence", and "alt-alterity".

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:29PM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:29PM (#757086)

                  How about "Alt-existence" for any "Alt- RWNJ.

              • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @01:45AM

                by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @01:45AM (#757158)

                Oh I do not like where this Trotsky toboggan ride is headed :-(

    • (Score: 4, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Friday November 02 2018, @02:26PM (17 children)

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 02 2018, @02:26PM (#756852) Journal

      As for Gab: Yes, there were/are some unpleasant people posting there.

      I prefer hordes of unpleasant people, to smiling sons of bitches who hug you with the left arm, while poising to stab you in the back with the right arm. The gnarly tatooed convict who tells you that he'll kill you if he gets the chance can be trusted. The social worker who repeatedly assures you that she only wants what is best for you? Not so much.

      • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:13PM (12 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:13PM (#756931)

        Is this upcoming election cycle just too scary for you? Need to get your hate-fix on to prep? Speaking of TDS I think you have it sliiiiightly wrong, all the Trumpettes and their fanbois (you) seem to be collectively losing it more and more as Trump continues to show you how full of shit he is. The cognitive effort required to hold the conservative line must be overwhelming, thus your need for a rage outlet.

        Don't worry Runaway, all your conservative pals are now TOTALLY *wink wink* going to support pre-existing conditions. 100% they're are looking out for you!

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:35PM (11 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:35PM (#756948)

          Where are the people "losing it" over Trump being "full of shit"? Everyone with sense already knew he was a bullshitter, part of the appeal is that he doesnt pretend not to be like the rest of them.

          It is ridiculous how some people just cant get it, you seem to have a serious mental issue preventing you from comprehending whats going on. The more of this I see, the less surprising it is that the DNC got trolled for trying to collude with russians.

          • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @07:20PM (10 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @07:20PM (#757019)

            Oh sure, there are a minority of Trump supporters still trying to push that narrative, but that makes them even stupider. Trump has now shown repeatedly that he is even more corrupt and against the average citizen than pretty much any other politician. Hell, Nixon had more redeeming qualities than Trump.

            The "losing it" is seen in their subconscious reactions that make them lash out angrily against imaginary foes even with all the "winning" they are doing. Then there are types like you, internet tough guys who attempt to tear down others to make themselves feel superior. You are easily identified by your glorification of trolls.

            The simple fact that you don't see how Trump is destroying the country and you prefer to imagine he is "sticking it to the man" somehow is just insanity.

            This isn't about a partisan divide, if you're excuse was "hillary would have been worse" I would have said "possibly" and not considered you a fool. Now that we've had Trump long enough to see how absolutely terrible he is, even on a basic human level, I know you're a fool if you still support him and are not angry about his bullshit.

            The more I hear people cry "Trump Derangement Syndrome" the more I know his base is unraveling. You have nothing to defend so you point at people's outrage as if that is some sort of proof. The most hollow rationale which fits the insanity so perfectly.

            • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @07:53PM (6 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @07:53PM (#757037)

              Im saying the exact same stuff I was saying all 2016, all the supposed anti-trump stuff I am seeing is having a pro-trump effect. And predictably so, since normal people detest constant idiotic screeching, especially when it is almost always turns out to be wrong.

              Either its all some sort of false flag or diversion, or there is some serious mental issue behind this. Id suppose its the latter, and whats happening is that people who have been believing incorrect stuff for so long just cant handle it when forced to face reality.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:35PM (5 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:35PM (#757062)

                since normal people detest constant idiotic screeching, especially when it is almost always turns out to be wrong.

                Like Trump himself. Yes.

                • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:49PM (4 children)

                  by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:49PM (#757071)

                  Like I said, some people just don't get it. You are doomed to be perennially surprised because some basic part of your worldview is wrong. The GP post didnt offer up a single thing trump actually did that was unexpected, just a bunch of vague hate and "witty" comebacks/slurs.

                  And even if they did offer something actually negative on Trump, wouldnt matter. Normal people dont pay attention to whiners, they want proactive solutions to problems they face.

                  But the supposed trump opponents are so far from even valid criticisms, they are still stuck on calling trump orange😅. Guess what? That makes him a minority of one. Who else has to mark down "other: orange" when they fill out the census? Yet, look what hes achieved despite that.

                  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:10PM (3 children)

                    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:10PM (#757077)

                    It only makes Trump more popular to idiots who already like Trump.

                    There are a TON of rational people seeing what is happening, seeing the lies from the GOP, and changing their tune. Best of luck with your conspiracy theories, maybe apply at reddit.com/r/topminds I hear they are a group of stable geniuses you might identify with.

                    What is left but to mock? Your right-wing propaganda has a bullshit excuse no matter what someone says. Point out bad things Trump does and you play whataboutism, say bad things about Trump or the GOP and you call for civility. Provide sound logic to refute a point and you move the goal posts. Those tricks only work for a short while until most people catch on.

                    Trump was able to ride a wave of hate and stupidity with such tactics, you'll have to be better if you want anyone to give your thoughts legitimacy.

                    "Yet, look what hes achieved despite that."

                    Oh, I see, you are one of the morons. I bet you advocate for "US cultural heritage" too.

                    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:29PM (2 children)

                      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:29PM (#757085)

                      It only makes Trump more popular to idiots who already like Trump

                      Holy shit, you really simply cannot comprehend whats going on. All you wanna talk about is trump, this isnt about trump.

                      It is about disgust with and anti-trust of the media. Many new eyes are opening up to their duplicity due to their (retarded in every way if taken at face value) coverage of trump. Every single response Ive dealt with in this thread proves my point: the anti-trump people are clueless; blind to even the topic of discussions they are trying to partake in.

                      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @02:51AM (1 child)

                        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @02:51AM (#757175)

                        Suuuuure thing AC.

                        That may be what it is for YOU, the trolling internet libertarian who just wanted to disrupt "the system".

                        Sadly you are the minority when it comes to Trump supporters, otherwise we probably wouldn't even be having this conversation. Unless you are a true Trump supporter, then you're just massively full of shit.

                        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @03:27AM

                          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @03:27AM (#757181)

                          Still dont get it. media_distruster != trump_supporter, but it seems to be that media_truster == trump_hater & media_truster = somting_rong_w_behavior

            • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:40PM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:40PM (#757066)

              I used to wonder why the "left" believed so completely that a few Facebook ads could convince voters that they should change their vote, abstain from voting, or alter their voting plans in any way. I thought to myself, they either earnestly believe Trump supporters are really stupid or really gullible. I am now convinced that they believe it so wholeheartedly because they are so easily and thoroughly manipulated by their own media.

              I cannot tell you how many times I have heard crazies repeat things that are easily verified as untruths by independent sources. I have given up trying to convince them they are wrong. One of my best friends has finally succumbed to TDS. I always though he was well reasoned and rational, but now I hear him repeating propaganda from CNN and expressing a desire to "ram a phone pole up the president's ass." This is not rational behavior. He would have a stroke if someone had said that about Hillary or Obama but the media has worked hard to normalize this kind of childish behavior.

              I find myself repeating to him, look at that tag on your CNN article. See where it says opinion? That's a clue that it's not really news.

              Don't bother replying to me with a vile, frothing-at-the-mouth rant about how I must be a Nazi for disagreeing with you if you feel the need. You only prove my point.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @10:27PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @10:27PM (#757109)

                The self-projection angle does make a lot of sense.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:34PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:34PM (#757089)

              Where are the people "losing it" over Trump being "full of shit"?
              - The "losing it" is seen in their subconscious reactions

              I see. So the evidence is in people's subconscious, and so invisible by definition.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:48PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:48PM (#756959)

        The gnarly tatooed convict who tells you that he'll kill you if he gets the chance can be trusted. The social worker who repeatedly assures you that she only wants what is best for you? Not so much.

        Then by all means, go spend so time with the convict who wants to kill you.

        BTW, based on your endlessly charming posts I bet you spend as much time with convicts who would kill you as you do with social workers.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @06:44PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @06:44PM (#756995)

          Know a guy that's got a shiv with Runaway's name on it. Seems the Russian mob Oligarchs are not too happy with his performance of late.

          • (Score: 0, Redundant) by khallow on Saturday November 03 2018, @02:38AM

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 03 2018, @02:38AM (#757171) Journal
            Like anyone would pay a SN poster enough to shiv them over it. And yes, please edumacate me on how cheap life is to the Russian mob - the point still stands.
      • (Score: 2) by Joe Desertrat on Saturday November 03 2018, @11:45AM

        by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Saturday November 03 2018, @11:45AM (#757249)

        The gnarly tatooed convict who tells you that he'll kill you if he gets the chance can be trusted. The social worker who repeatedly assures you that she only wants what is best for you? Not so much.

        So you prefer those trying to kill you rather than help you? Kind of explains a lot of the right wing worldview.

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by ikanreed on Friday November 02 2018, @02:46PM (1 child)

      by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 02 2018, @02:46PM (#756865) Journal

      "Antifa punched a guy demanding genocide"=="a dozen murders just last fucking week"

      Centrism sucks. Centrism is amoral.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @07:22PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @07:22PM (#757021)

        bbbbut BOTH SIDES!

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by tangomargarine on Friday November 02 2018, @03:37PM (3 children)

      by tangomargarine (667) on Friday November 02 2018, @03:37PM (#756886)

      Good point. Although when I got to this

      Of course some extremists groups are also part of the alt-right.

      I started to wonder. Wouldn't the non-extremist groups be considered part of the mainstream right, then? Who defines what "alt" comprises, and what is that definition?

      Or has the whole thing more or less devolved into another derogatory term only used by its enemies as usual

      --
      "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
      • (Score: 2, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Friday November 02 2018, @04:07PM (2 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 02 2018, @04:07PM (#756896) Journal

        Aristarchus determines where alt-right begins and ends. If you are right of Marx, then you are alt-right. No, there is no mainstream, no centrism, no moderate.

        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:52PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:52PM (#756961)

          And Runaway determines ... absolutely nothing. Go hang up your keyboard, son. You're boring us with your holier-than-thou blather.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @07:48PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @07:48PM (#757031)

            Heh, blather! Such a perfect use of the word, a rarity.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @04:36PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @04:36PM (#756905)

      >The "alt-right" is nothing more than conservatives who see the futility of trying to "get along" with the progressives, because the only way to get along with progressives/SJWs is to give into their agenda.

      You're talking about white supremacists and nazis. It's not Conservative to declare getting along to be futile, and to embrace hatred of decent people. The open-bigotry is what separates the alt-right from Conservatives. The term "alt-right" was coined by a white supremacist.

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @06:52PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @06:52PM (#756999)

        You're talking about white supremacists and nazis. It's not Conservative to declare getting along to be futile, and to embrace hatred of decent people. The open-bigotry is what separates the alt-right from Conservatives. The term "alt-right" was coined by a white supremacist.

        Exactly. The point of "alt-right" is to normalize itself and to denormalize the opposition. That's the difference between these fuckers and the regular conservatives or liberals. Even the ANTIFA is sane in comparison, as you can give them a stogie and they peace-out. The left can't agree on much, but the "alt-right", they just want to see the world burn. And that explains these fuckers losing it all the time.

        Remember the "Minuteman"?

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Raul_and_Brisenia_Flores [wikipedia.org]

        Forde and her accomplices gained entry to the Flores home by claiming they were officials looking for fugitives. The suspects had the expectation of finding money and drugs that could be sold to finance Forde's militia group, the "Minutemen American Defense," which patrolled Arizona's border with Mexico. When they found no drugs, the intruders took inexpensive jewelry and fatally shot 29-year-old Raul Flores, Jr., and his daughter, nine-year-old Brisenia Ylianna Flores

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minuteman_Civil_Defense_Corps [wikipedia.org]

        On June 8, 2016, Minuteman Civil Defense Corps co-founder Chris Simcox was found guilty of child molestation, [8] and on July 11, 2016, was sentenced to serve 19.5 years in an Arizona prison.

        You look at these bunch of idiots, "alt-right"ers, and all you find is a trail of sad fucked up individuals. And all they want to to spread their hatred and fear to the general public. And now they have GOP pushing this propaganda.

        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:28PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:28PM (#757083)

          Yup, I've got an acquaintance who I recently found out is a closet racist hiding behind "enforce the laws about immigration" and "what is wrong with having pride in white heritage" while missing the blatant point that such "heritage" doesn't even exist in the US.

          This person has a lot of personal issues in life and flaunts the law in some rather petty ways. The irony is palpable and I have a hard time sympathizing at this point.

          The racist sub-culture enjoyed a LOT of support until recently because they kept framing their racist ideology in hidden ways that appealed to the more centrist conservatives. "They're taking your jobs!" etc. etc. etc. At this point I think some of the younger alt-right people have truly sold themselves a lie and they do not realize they are racist. Generally they'll say they aren't racist and have no problems with Mexicans as long as they stay in their own country. The hypocritical irony is totally evident as you see people get harassed because English is not their first language but the assholes harassing them won't take a few seconds to find out if the person is a legal immigrant or not.

          Because it does not matter. Because they are racist.

          So if any of you readers are on the rightwing side of the political spectrum please realize if you do NOT consider yourselves racist then YOU need to advocate against the racism. Having some liberal trying to explain reality does not work, it just solidifies each person in their worldview. You moderate conservatives need to bridge this gap, call out the bullshit racism where you see it and realize that there is a LOT MORE of it around you than you think.

          Took me years to realize the person I knew had some seriously dark sides, I believed his bullshit about "I just want them to come legally" but over time he shared more of his opinions and it became obvious. I would say anyone that is emotionally worked up about illegal immigrants has a very high probability of being a racist. The average person realizes there is no massive problem, immigrants contribute more to the economy than they take and they aren't murdering and raping everyone like the POTUS keeps lying about.

          Doesn't mean I like illegal immigration, I would prefer if it was all done legally, but I'm not working myself into a rage because it simply isn't that big of a deal. It is fear unhinged and turned into anger.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by Non Sequor on Friday November 02 2018, @08:53PM (8 children)

      by Non Sequor (1005) on Friday November 02 2018, @08:53PM (#757072) Journal

      I can’t get worked up over Antifa. Antifa is simply the group of people who say “yes” to the question “who wants to go start a fight with some nazis?” That’s their defining attribute, and sure it produces some distinctive selection characteristics beyond that, but it’s really mostly about punching nazis.

      None of these alt-right groups is drawn together by anything as innocent as the desire to punch nazis. Some of their recruitment material reads more like “hey, wanna hang out with some nazis?” The alt-right is made up of the people who don’t answer “no, I don’t want to be around any nazis.” I’m just saying that most people want to stay away from that kind of thing and it’s hard not to have certain perceptions of people who don’t avoid or punch nazis.

      --
      Write your congressman. Tell him he sucks.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:32PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:32PM (#757088)

        The whole outrage over Antifa really highlights the frozen water based nature of these people. Just a teensy bit of heated violence and they melt down all over.

        Not a word about abortion clinic bombing and such, and plenty of words supporting the Charlottesville guy.

        I pretty much always see liberals condemning violence from "the left" even condemning Antifa. Never see that from the right wing section, just saying.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:54PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:54PM (#757098)

        The biggest problem with Antifa is their definition of "Nazi", which seems to boil down to anyone they don't like at the moment.

      • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday November 03 2018, @03:08AM (5 children)

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 03 2018, @03:08AM (#757178) Journal

        None of these alt-right groups is drawn together by anything as innocent as the desire to punch nazis.

        This is typical demonization. I don't believe that is even slightly more innocent than wanting to hang out with Nazis.

        • (Score: 2) by Non Sequor on Saturday November 03 2018, @11:17AM (4 children)

          by Non Sequor (1005) on Saturday November 03 2018, @11:17AM (#757242) Journal

          Captain America and Wonder Woman lunch nazis.

          --
          Write your congressman. Tell him he sucks.
          • (Score: 2) by Non Sequor on Saturday November 03 2018, @11:21AM

            by Non Sequor (1005) on Saturday November 03 2018, @11:21AM (#757243) Journal

            Captain America and Wonder Woman lunch nazis

            Dang it

            --
            Write your congressman. Tell him he sucks.
          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday November 03 2018, @11:40AM (2 children)

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 03 2018, @11:40AM (#757246) Journal
            Add "nazi" to the end of the label you use to describe something. Then punch it in the face! What could be more Nazi than that?
            • (Score: 2) by Non Sequor on Saturday November 03 2018, @01:05PM (1 child)

              by Non Sequor (1005) on Saturday November 03 2018, @01:05PM (#757265) Journal

              Add "nazi" to the end of the label you use to describe something. Then punch it in the face! What could be more Nazi than that?

              When people say “nazis” these days, they’re talking about people who literally attended the Unite the Right rally or people who are edges away from Richard Spencer on the social graph. Seinfeld’s “soup nazi” bit came from a more innocent era, and I would not condone punching the restaurateur that character was based on.

              Second, “nazi punching” has a civil disobedience component. Antifa specifically tries to provoke the first punch (a tactic dating back to the groups that fought white supremacists handing out pamphlets at punk rock shows) but these are people willing to spend time in jail for a political statement.

              --
              Write your congressman. Tell him he sucks.
              • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday November 04 2018, @10:24PM

                by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday November 04 2018, @10:24PM (#757748) Journal

                When people say “nazis” these days, they’re talking about people who literally attended the Unite the Right rally or people who are edges away from Richard Spencer on the social graph.

                So what? It's still more of the "soup nazi" game except that that the rules have been enlarged to allow said punching.

                Second, “nazi punching” has a civil disobedience component. Antifa specifically tries to provoke the first punch

                By punching first, let us note.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @09:50AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @09:50AM (#757230)

      If only we had a brush so broad as to paint the lovely bradley13 extraspecial Overseas Republican Operative, charged with brainwashing young Swiss, as a neo-nazi! He would probably be banned from teaching, much like Der Nazi Herr Professor Martin Heidegger!!! Sieg Hiel!!!! was banned from teaching after the war, due to his support of Naziism. So, tiresome? Really? When total cucks like you are supporting "white supremacism" and "anti-semitism", and "pro-business"? You and Sulla can just go back to Alaska, where you both can suck off the largese of the bribes given by the Oil companies to the rather sparse, and dense, population.

      Really, Bradley13, just come out as a former US Intell Operative that got stuck in a really bad consolation prize, post career. Happens to a lot of us.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:22AM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:22AM (#756776)

    On this, the tenth anniversary of the publication of Satoshi Nakamoto's whitepaper, which gave birth to bitcoin, Gab epitomizes the darker consequences of his vision.

    In what way is this a "dark" consequence or in any way distinguishable from the regular consequences of bitcoin/blockchains?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:08PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:08PM (#756800)

      It's not that hard to grasp. Just replace "Gab" with "Google" and you'll understand.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:25PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:25PM (#757054)

      In what way is this a "dark" consequence...?

      Because he is pro censorship, and this making censorship more difficult makes his life miserable. This is all part of the failure to recognize that the audience alone is responsible for the actions they take. Free choice does not compute with him.

      I think this represents wonderful news. The lefties can employ the same tactics if it proves successful, and if they produce a message that will actually motivate people, we might someday become human.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:30PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:30PM (#757059)
        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @05:08PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @05:08PM (#757331)

          Yes, we still are nothing more than biological machines. "The mind is what the brain does"

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @10:39AM (13 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @10:39AM (#756784)

    What I don't get is why anyone needs $10M to keep a discussion site going. Per their charter, Gab doesn't censor, doesn't create "original content", what do they spend all this money on?

    Or, is the hidden agenda the enrichment of the small group of founders?

    • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:19PM (12 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:19PM (#756802)

      Well, hosting and bandwidth aren't free, and neither are programmers, DB admins, support staff, or executives. And those pesky overhead items like office space, utilities, etc.

      The ad model is hard for a site like Gab. Based on the type of content that appears on Gab many advertisers don't want their products associated with it. Seeing "I want to buy the world a Coke" ad next to a post advocating the extermination of <insert any group here> is not what Coke wants. A screen shot of an inflammatory post that includes their ad is even worse. An ad for a more right-leaning organization like the NRA (for example) next to that post would be used against the NRA, so they want to avoid that type of association as well.

      Business need money to operate, and business owners want to pocket the biggest piece of the pie.

      • (Score: 5, Interesting) by bradley13 on Friday November 02 2018, @01:25PM (7 children)

        by bradley13 (3053) on Friday November 02 2018, @01:25PM (#756825) Homepage Journal

        This is all true. Gab is ad-free, meaning that they need to earn money in other ways. They offer some sort of premium subscriber model, and I'm sure they had some takers. However, they mainly seem to get money through various forms of "investment". I put that in quotes, because I read through the investment documents when they did their first round of equity. The provided only part-year results (iirc, these were unaudited). Their annual projected turnover was shockingly low, way under $100k. Based on that, they self-declared a valuation of $10 million, so something like two or three orders of magnitude more than their turnover.

        I posted a question on the investment site, asking for some justification for this nutty valuation. The reply, I think it was from Torba himself, was basically "because we need the money". Um...no, that's not a basis for equity investment, that's what venture capital is for. ICOs are even less respectable than their previous, haphazard attempts at raising equity. Next, they'll be panhandling in train stations.

        My impression - purely subjective - is that the Gab founders want to simultaneously (1) run a startup, (2) avoid diluting their majority stake, and (3) live the lives of successful entrepreneurs, without going through that bothersome stage of long hours for no pay. I like the concept of Gab: an uncensored social media platform needs to exist. Sadly, the wrong people are running it.

        That said, this shutdown has gotten them more free publicity than they could ever dream of. Whoever is behind the shutdown clearly does not understand the Streisand Effect. If Torba & Co. are capable of getting a clue, this may be the opportunity they need.

        --
        Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
        • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday November 02 2018, @02:31PM

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 02 2018, @02:31PM (#756857) Journal

          Next, they'll be panhandling in train stations.

          Well, I'm not moving to make space for them. And, I'm holding Mud Duck's place, just in case he decides to live after they chop up his posterior parts with the associated plumbing.

        • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @04:39PM (3 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @04:39PM (#756909)

          >I like the concept of Gab: an uncensored social media platform needs to exist.

          Not really. Twitter is extremely tolerant toward terrible people, so you have to be a monster to get kicked off and wind up on Gab.
          Gab itself is not uncensored. You just have to be too awful for the other monsters to get kicked off of Gab.

          • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday November 02 2018, @06:13PM (1 child)

            by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday November 02 2018, @06:13PM (#756978) Journal

            Twitter is extremely tolerant toward terrible people, so you have to be a monster to get kicked off and wind up on Gab.

            Twitter has become much less tolerant of what they consider bad behavior. It released anti-harassment tools starting around November 2016, and has been more responsive to user reports and bans more users. Your characterization of Twitter and what you need to do to get banned there is subjective, and probably outdated. Of course, not everyone is satisfied by Twitter's responses and level of commitment to free speech. It may become even easier to be kicked off Twitter in the future.

            Twitter has also been demanding phone verification from some users, which could prevent trolls from making too many accounts and give Twitter a way to throw unlawful users to the police.

            Gab itself is not uncensored. You just have to be too awful for the other monsters to get kicked off of Gab.

            Then Gab is not an uncensored social media platform, and is not the end goal. Only a decentralized platform can truly take on this role.

            Of course, with an actually uncensored platform you run the risk of being exposed to a lot. Unless it has a text-only mode and you don't click any links.

            A voting system based on sending small fractions of cryptocurrency might be able to determine post quality (according to users, so it could be skewed depending on what the users want to see).

            --
            [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:46PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:46PM (#757069)

              Twitter has become much less tolerant of what they consider bad behavior.

              Heh, coulda fooled me. Trump still has an open account.

              What's cool about the internet is that if twitter censors with a heavy hand, people will seek out alternatives, and there are plenty, better than gab. Obviously the best ones are decentralized and as close as peer to peer as you will ever get when you have to go through an ISP... but there they are, so complaining about twitter is kinda dumb.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:13PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:13PM (#757078)

            He had both Twitter and Facebook accounts.

            Why didn't Twitter and Facebook get shut down? It's only fair. They should lose their DNS, their data center cages, their merchant accounts for financial transactions... just that same as gab.ai suffered.

            This whole thing smells like leftist/globalist corporate executives waiting for an excuse. They had this planned, just as they did for Alex Jones. Who else are they planning to eliminate?

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:31PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:31PM (#757060)

          this may be the opportunity they need.

          Could be the opportunity they made... Whatever. I hope the idea works and makes them bulletproof. We all need this to protect us all from censorship.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @10:08PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @10:08PM (#757103)

          Sorry Bradley, but you just don't seem to "get it".

      • (Score: 2) by stretch611 on Friday November 02 2018, @01:33PM (3 children)

        by stretch611 (6199) on Friday November 02 2018, @01:33PM (#756829)

        Maybe they can put a funding goal on their home page and allow users to subscribe/donate?

        If that is not enough, maybe they can add their logo to t-shirts and coffee mugs as "Gab Swag" and put a link to purchase them under said funding goals.

        --
        Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @02:14PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @02:14PM (#756841)

          Who will process the payments? Should I make out a cheque and mail it to them?

          Subscription/donation is how I'd understood their funding model when I checked out Gab some time ago. I registered an account and browsed for all of about 5 minutes before I realized that the only thing there were fresh instances of jmorris-class NPCs. Regardless, I will be interested to see what the Gab folks come up with.

          • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @02:28PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @02:28PM (#756853)

            Who will process the payments?

            Why do they need a payment processor? They will only use Ethereum to take payments/donations, and only services that take Ethereum as payment.

        • (Score: 2) by jmorris on Friday November 02 2018, @05:48PM

          by jmorris (4844) on Friday November 02 2018, @05:48PM (#756960)

          They had a store with swag. The usual. Of course it was also deplatformed. They also had a direct donate button. But they preferred subscriptions of course, and gave out some fairly useful plums to encourage it. The 300 character limit is lifted up to 3K and you can use some basic formatting like bold, italics and underline. And subscribers can become "premium content creators" and charge viewers to see their "premium posts". Until they solve the payment processor bottleneck all of those things will be on hold.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by sigterm on Friday November 02 2018, @11:32AM (21 children)

    by sigterm (849) on Friday November 02 2018, @11:32AM (#756792)

    >Gab.com, the social network used by the accused Pittsburgh
    >synagogue gunman to threaten Jews.

    Yes, a crazy anti-semite and fanatical Donald Trump-hater said something bad on a social network before committing a horrible crime. This obviously means that the social network is to blame.

    We should stay clear of platforms like Gab, which had the audacity to not censor anyone and instead leave it up to law enforcement to investigate and prosecute illegal activities.

    Instead, we should flock to Twitter and Facebook, networks that censor and remove accounts when people post frog memes or mock left-wing ideologies, while still hosting accounts belonging to IS and Hamas supporters, revolutionaries that openly advocate for violence, black supremacists that in some cases are also rabid anti-semites, and all sorts of ideologues that post racist tweets and messages all day long.

    But don't let the fact that just about every single one of the crazies that have committed horrible acts of violence had a Facebook and/or Twitter account derail this conversation. Gab is what we should be focusing on here, because reasons.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by takyon on Friday November 02 2018, @11:46AM (10 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday November 02 2018, @11:46AM (#756795) Journal

      The author clearly does not like Gab, but I don't see how you can avoid mentioning the Pittsburgh shooter given that the site was taken down for that reason.

      In an alternate universe where there was no massacre in Pittsburgh, could Gab have stayed online (uninterrupted and not deplatformed) for years to come, without any infrastructure changes? Maybe, maybe not.

      The article does look at some of the technologies that could be used to make Gab or a similar platform decentralized and resistant to external attack. We could use such platforms regardless of whether they are called Gab or are havens to the alt-right. As our WSWSWSWSWSWSwswsSWSw poster likes to remind us, the left can get kicked off of Facebook too [soylentnews.org].

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:34PM (3 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:34PM (#756808)

        Gab was already in the crosshairs of the Left.
        All this censorship and purging was already in high gear on the Internet. This was just their excuse.

        • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Friday November 02 2018, @02:38PM (2 children)

          by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 02 2018, @02:38PM (#756861) Journal

          Gab was already in the crosshairs of the Left.

          I feel that it might be necessary to clarify for some people: Gab EXISTS because many, or even most, of it's members were already censored and silenced by the CTRL-Left.

          • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @04:41PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @04:41PM (#756911)

            Gab's users were kicked off of Twitter, a company run by someone sympathetic to the toxic-right.
            They weren't silenced or censored. They were kicked off of a free service for being assholes.

            • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:17PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:17PM (#756934)

              Why bother? These loons see an imaginary Leftist boogey man coming for them and so they cozy right on up to the actual IRL boogey men who advocate genocide and hate.

              I mean what else can be said? Either they are knowingly complicit and are too cowardly to say "yeah I'm racist what of it?" or they are dumb enough to let the propaganda skew their thinking to insane degrees. I'm guessing most are a mix of both.

              There are alternatives to Gab, why flock there?

      • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Friday November 02 2018, @01:13PM

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Friday November 02 2018, @01:13PM (#756821) Journal

        The general idea of making freedom technologically bulletproof is a good direction for people to apply their skills. Now we need to figure out the physical network side of the equation. Mesh networks are an attempt, but the drawbacks remain.

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @04:50PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @04:50PM (#756915)

        "Deplatformed"?! You can fuck right off with that stupid shit.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @06:15PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @06:15PM (#756981)

        Someone asked weev about gab. He said that sites like this are shit not because of deplatforming
        Weev said that the content is shit and the people running it can't build communities
        Go cry some more pussy

        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Friday November 02 2018, @06:54PM

          by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Friday November 02 2018, @06:54PM (#757001) Journal

          Someone asked weev about gab.

          The Southern Poverty Law Center says weev is bad. What's your hot take on this?

          Weev said that the content is shit and the people running it can't build communities

          Did GoDaddy, Stripe, and other companies deplatform Gab for those reasons? No, it took a mass shooting and fear of bad publicity to take down Gab. Otherwise, Gab would still be running today, regardless of whether the content was shit.

          A real problem is that the top social media platforms like Facebook/Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter get most of the attention. Dailymotion, Vimeo, etc. get ignored because the action and attention is at YouTube. Yet those sites still manage to exist. The alt-right niche of Gab may have hurt its growth, but it was still around.

          Go cry some more pussy

          You sure you're replying to the right comment? I don't care about Gab. It was an imperfect platform because it was able to be taken down like this. Something more like Diaspora or Freenet would be a better idea than Gab. But it still has to gain a lot of users for it to become useful.

          --
          [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @02:50AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @02:50AM (#757174)

          Someone asked weev about gab.

          What's a "weev"?

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:26PM (9 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:26PM (#756803)

      Yes, a crazy anti-semite and fanatical Donald Trump-hater said something bad on a social network before committing a horrible crime. This obviously means that the social network is to blame.

      Um, no. But the site clearly embraces hate speech (just look at the content and users they promote when you visit the site).

      The Pittsburgh shooter is not the only extremist on Gab. In fact, based on the few hours I spent reviewing posts on Gab last Saturday, it is safe to say the Pittsburgh shooter is nowhere near the right edge of the bell curve of posters.

      It's funny, but some of the same "don't censor us! free speech!" proponents of sites like Gab want content from people they label as terroists removed from the internet.

      • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @01:09PM (8 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @01:09PM (#756820)

        It's funny, but some of the same "don't censor us! free speech!" proponents of sites like Gab want content from people they label as terroists removed from the internet.

        Hilarious isn't it? Imagine if alwaleed bin talal were a major Twitter shareholder and the same standard were applied to Islamist groups on Twitter. Imagine if the lefts "anti-zionism" were investigated [bbc.co.uk] under "hate speech" laws these dipshits pushed for. Incitement, credible threats and defamation were already legally actionable. There is no "hate speech" and if there were Sarah Jeong, Don the Lemon and by extension their employers would need to be shut down (Goodbye NYT & CNN).

        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @02:30PM (7 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @02:30PM (#756856)

          That's a bit of a reach, but you keep trying.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @04:55PM (6 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @04:55PM (#756920)

            That's a bit of a reach, but you keep trying.

            Awkward [twitter.com] and you can give yourself the reach around.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:21PM (5 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:21PM (#756937)

              Why is every single citation soooo bad when you types try and point out "both sides!!!"

              There is a massive difference between supporting hate speech and mistakenly putting up a trending topic. Twitter apologized, think you'll get Gab to apologize for hosting literal Nazis?

              You tools repeatedly show your stupidity, it is no surprise you get mocked for it all the time. There must be some connection between stupidity and racism. Makes sense to me, only stupid people can be so scared of other normal human beings.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:38PM (3 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @05:38PM (#756950)

                There is a massive difference between supporting hate speech and mistakenly putting up a trending topic.

                Context matters now does it? [youtube.com]

                Twitter apologized, think you'll get Gab to apologize for hosting literal Nazis?

                Where did Twitter apologize for hosting Islamists and left wing anti-zionists anti-semites?

                There must be some connection between stupidity and racism.

                Must be; ridiculous insults and double standards too!

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @06:00PM (2 children)

                  by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @06:00PM (#756965)

                  Well, if you don't like it why don't you go post on Gab? What, they were given the boot by their service providers for being so vile that corporate America didn't even want their money? Wow ... looks like an invisible backhand from the market.

                  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:02PM (1 child)

                    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @09:02PM (#757074)

                    May do, free speech is preferable to cynically monetizing extremism. [theintercept.com] Or by the standard of guilt by association, UK Labour [wikipedia.org] hamas and Farrakhan hosting Twitter must also be corporately deplatformed.

                    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @11:25PM

                      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @11:25PM (#757134)

                      Deplatform, deplane, degauss ... just don't delay my lunch.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @06:52PM

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @06:52PM (#757000)

                There must be some connection between stupidity and racism.

                Do you consider identity to be a connection? This is why we can't have white supremacy! White people are too dumb! Especially the ones who are so dumb they think they are superior! Dunning-Kroeger iin overdrive, so to speak. Too stupid to recognize how stupid they are, to the point they take that as a sign of smartness!

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:44PM (15 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:44PM (#756814)

    Cryptocurrency really is about freedom.
    Since cash is infeasible over the internet, we are left with electronic payment. The credit card companies dominate this in the USA (try to wire someone money from your bank account!), and the credit card oligarchy can decide to cut you off for basically no reason or for reeasons forced on them by the govt. Is this a free society where your livelihood depends on the whims of powerful organizations that do not have to follow any laws in their actions with you? You have broken no law, but they "don't like you"? If this is the case, how can a simple baker be forced by the Supreme Court to bake a cake for people HE doesn't like? It's one set of rules for the powerful, and another for everyone else.

    I favor freedom. Don't like it? Don't go to that website. Diversity has consequences. Heh.

    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:52PM (11 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:52PM (#756817)

      Sounds like you need to take a look outside your window. There is a whole world of local businesses that take cash as a form of payment. No blockchain required.

      What? You want the benefits of product choices, availability and lower prices offered by the internet? That doesn't sound like "freedom", it sounds like "capitalism". You know what else wreaks of capitalism? Credit card companies.

      • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @01:52PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @01:52PM (#756834)

        Your entire post did nothing to address my points. Capitalism at its base is about providing goods or services in exchange for payment. Refusing to deal with a customer because of their opinions is politics. Yes, on the part of the baker and the credit card companies. The difference is, there is a robust free market in local bakeries. There is no such thing in the oligarchy of credit card companies. Personally, I favor serving everyone as long as they have not broken any laws. That is my salient point.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @02:35PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @02:35PM (#756859)

          That is my salient point.

          Interesting how your OP was so far off your "salient point."

          Go spend cash in the real world. Or go complain about not enough online places taking cryptocurrency, which are not that private or secure when you have to provide a physical address to ship your purchase to. Either way, never choose an online bakery because shipping a cake is never good for the cake (salient or not).

      • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @02:19PM (5 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @02:19PM (#756843)

        Since cash is infeasible over the internet, we are left with electronic payment.

        There is a whole world of local businesses that take cash as a form of payment. No blockchain required.

        rebuttal fail

        • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @02:32PM (4 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @02:32PM (#756858)

          Not at all. You tie the dollars to a pigeon....

          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday November 02 2018, @02:41PM (1 child)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 02 2018, @02:41PM (#756862) Journal

            SKEET SHOOT!! Count me in!

            • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:15PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @08:15PM (#757048)

              Ah, that's why my RFC 1149 compliant bitcoin client has such high packet loss.

          • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday November 02 2018, @08:42PM (1 child)

            by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Friday November 02 2018, @08:42PM (#757068) Journal

            Not at all. You tie the dollars to a pigeon....

            African or European?

            --
            This sig for rent.
            • (Score: 3, Informative) by Joe Desertrat on Saturday November 03 2018, @11:43AM

              by Joe Desertrat (2454) on Saturday November 03 2018, @11:43AM (#757247)

              African or European?

              The African are non-migratory, so one would have to use the European.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by HiThere on Friday November 02 2018, @05:14PM (1 child)

        by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 02 2018, @05:14PM (#756932) Journal

        Sorry, but "capitalism under government prohibition of entry of new players" isn't capitalism.

        This isn't surprising, as actual capitalism has a very poor track record except in the eyes of the rich and powerful, and even they prefer to avoid competition when they can, so they legislate it away. So they don't like capitalism either. You are left with people who have been taught that the word describes something good (or evil) so if you label something with that name they will react as expected.

        People tend to be hypnotized by names. That name given to a thing doesn't necessarily have much to do with the thing itself. You have to check. And very different things turn out to be given the same name in circumstances where it's difficult to check.

        --
        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 November 02 2018, @06:07PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @06:07PM (#756971)

          Sorry, but "capitalism under government prohibition of entry of new players" isn't capitalism.

          You lost me. The internet doesn't allow new players, or new players cannot enter the credit card industry? Or are you talking about the thousands of cryptocurrencies that have popped up in the last year or two?

          Cash still works in the real world. If you want to have the convenience of buying over the internet then you need to trade something for that convenience. One thing that is traded for that convenience is the use of cash and the anonymity of your transactions. But how anonymous can you be if you have to provide a shipping address for whatever you buy?

      • (Score: 0, Flamebait) by khallow on Saturday November 03 2018, @03:12AM

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 03 2018, @03:12AM (#757180) Journal

        There is a whole world of local businesses that doesn't do business on the internet.

        FTFY.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @06:54PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @06:54PM (#757002)

      The credit card companies dominate this in the USA (try to wire someone money from your bank account!)

      Well, maybe fix it? Seems to work fine in EU. Just give me your account number, and someone can send you money. Free. Been like that for decade? But then, EU so actual freedom not guns

      • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @05:28PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 03 2018, @05:28PM (#757337)

        But then, EU so actual freedom not guns

        You're so full of it! American guns are what have kept the peace in Europe for the last 73 years! The minute we pull out, you'll be right back to your nazi feudal warfare bullshit. As if Bosnia/Serbia/Croatia/Whatever wasn't a fucking hint! Thousands of years, and European arrogance hasn't diminished one bit!

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 04 2018, @03:07PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 04 2018, @03:07PM (#757628)

          Troll? Got some real kool-aid drinkin' moderators here too, eh? The truth is an ugly bitch, ain't it? Damn! We are so doomed if you damn people don't wake up!

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