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The 'alt-right' created a parallel internet. It's a holy mess
Kevin Roose of The New York Times [cnbc.com] published the following:
In recent months, as sites like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook have cracked down on hate speech and barred several high-profile conservative users, the alt-right made a declaration of technological independence from Silicon Valley. Hard-right activists vowed to create their own versions of these digital services, on which all views would be welcome, no matter how crude or incendiary.
According to the inventors of the internet, the network interprets censorship as damage, and routes around it. So is that what we are seeing here?
More than a dozen "alt-tech" companies have now emerged, each promising a refuge from political correctness and censorship. There is Gab, a kind of alt-Twitter social network that began last year, whose early adopters included prominent figures like Milo Yiannopoulos and Andrew Anglin, the founder of the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website. There is WrongThink (alt-Facebook), PewTube (alt-YouTube), Voat (alt-Reddit), Infogalactic (alt-Wikipedia) and GoyFundMe (alt-Kickstarter). There is even WASP.love, a dating site for white nationalists and others "wishing to preserve their heritage."
Even for those who are aware of the USENET origins of the "alt" tag, this is getting out of hand. Could it be that "alt-tech" is like "alternative medicine"? You know, like where do you know what they call alternative medicine that works? Yes, "medicine". So it seems that the alt-right, whether alt-light, alt-white, or alt-love, may have difficulties with the whole alt-web thing.
What I found on these sites was more pitiful than fear-inspiring. Sure, some alt-tech platforms were filled with upsetting examples of Nazi imagery and bigoted garbage. But most were ghost towns, with few active users and no obvious supervision. As technology products, many are second- or third-rate, with long load times, broken links and frequent error messages. A few had been taken offline altogether.
In the words of Walter Sobchak: "No, Donny, these men are nihilists, there's nothing to be afraid of." But it gets worse.
If the alt-right's ideology harks back to 1940s Germany, its web design might transport you to 1990s GeoCities.
That's got to sting! Ouch!
What to make of this? If what has happened to the alt-right on line had been actual censorship, the internet should have just routed around it. Instead, the alt-internet is where hatred, fear and loathing go to die. Ergo, it is not censorship?
