Reddit 'quarantines' white supremacist, incel, holocaust denier, and other gross subreddits

[xeni]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/09/28/reddit-quarantines-major-w.html

…

[TobinL]

Because it is needed EVERY GODDAMN TIME.

Free Speech

Also GOOD.

[Mindysan33]

[Magdalene]

I guess a quarantine of the worst subs is something, but it doesn’t stop the people who visit reddit looking for those things from infecting the other subs. They are still everywhere on the site.

[ficuswhisperer]

They aren’t quarantining /r/the_donald so it’s all bullshit.

[gracchus]

Because it is needed EVERY GODDAMN TIME.

Also this:

and this:

Freeze Peach (USA)

This is a thread to discuss the limits of free speech, both legal and moral, the consequences, both legal and social, and the best way to fight hate speech. I ask that everyone acknowledge that we all oppose hate speech, but we sometimes differ on what we see as the best way to fight it. There will also inevitably be some disagreement on what constitutes a threat under current laws in various countries, and what practically constitutes a material threat irrespective of laws. I ask that everyone…

[BackToYouJim]

The ContraPoints on Incels was fascinating.

[gracchus]

I guess a quarantine of the worst subs is something, but it doesn’t stop the people who visit reddit looking for those things from infecting the other subs. They are still everywhere on the site.

I think the logic is they can more easily monitor the quarantined subreddits and their denizens and shut them down when they inevitably violate the site’s terms. We’ll see how it works out.

[Magdalene]

I think the logic is they can more easily monitor the quarantined subreddits and their denizens and shut them down when they inevitably violate the site’s terms.

I understand that and am aware of the fine line that they are trying to walk. I’m just not convinced that it will have much of an impact.

[NickyG]

Oh silly publishers, confusing themselves with the manufacturers of the medium.

The medium is IP. IP should not censor packets based on content. I agree with that wholeheartedly.

Reddit is a publisher, just like people who print stuff on paper. Paper is the medium, it should not censor. Publishers inherently represent what they choose to publish, plain and simple. If neo-Nazis want to make a chat forum on their own domain, I think that should be allowed under the law of the land as it currently stands.

This has nothing to do with publishers monitizing their platform by making it available to, say, Nazis. Fuck THAT noise.

[jonathanpeterso]

Agreed. Unless they have a mechanism to allow mods to autoban subscribers from certain quarantined subs and users to ignore them, it’s just a baby step.

The /r/atlanta sub rarely goes a week without brigading by t_d trolls - frequently ones who’ve created new accounts just for trolling.

[KathyPadilla]

The purpose of such quarantine-for-decontamination is to prevent the spread of contamination, and to contain the contamination such that others are not put at risk from a person fleeing a scene where contamination is suspect. It can also be used to limit exposure, as well as eliminate a vector.

Wouldn’t in inoculation in the quarantine area be the next step?

[gracchus]

Wouldn’t in inoculation in the quarantine area be the next step?

Cleansing it with fire might be the more realistic option, especially considering its conspiracy-minded inhabitants have a larger-than-normal overlap with anti-vaxxers.

[alahmnat]

They also overrode the decision of /r/KotakuInAction’s creator to shut down his subreddit because he realized how much of a shit-filled cess pool it was, then stripped him of all moderator powers over it so… yeah, fuck reddit.

[LurkingGrue]

Cool start but call me when they quarantine /r/the_donald

[BackToYouJim]

If you are redditting without a good 17-19 socket puppets in your RES account switcher … I mean, what are you evening doing there ?

philistine.

[JonS]

Nuke it from orbit. Its the only way to be sure.

[reactionabe]

The quarantine affected an extremist Left group, R/FullCommunism,

There’s something poetic about unironic Tankies getting censored.

[roomwithaview]

Reddit is a publisher

No, they are a host, the users are the publishers.

[NickyG]

No, they are a host, the users are the publishers.

LOL you’re so silly

The users are the unpaid content creators.

The ones who make the publishing platform are, indeed, the publishers.

You can tell yourself this isn’t the case, but that doesn’t make it true.