Why Unmoderated Online Forums Always Degenerate Into Fascism

[Colonel Panic]

I think the main reason's fairly simple; unmoderated forums by definition don't deny access to anyone, and so they're inevitably going to attract people who are denied access everywhere else. Since proponents of far right views are generally discouraged on mainstream forums, they're the ones who will be drawn to unmoderated ones.

[s243a]

I think the main reason's fairly simple; unmoderated forums by definition don't deny access to anyone, and so they're inevitably going to attract people who are denied access everywhere else. Since proponents of far right views are generally discouraged on mainstream forums, they're the ones who will be drawn to unmoderated ones.

It just isn't people on the "far right" that are being censored from mainstream platforms. Many major non-establishment leftwing entities (people/groups/news comapines etc..) have been removed from twitter or demonetized on youtube. The narrative that it is only far right wing accounts that are being penalized is the propaganda that is causing people to give their tacit consent to giving up their free speech rights on the modern public square (AKA social media).

The truth is that twitter doesn't care about civility. The blue check mark twitter elite is free to fabricate social justice controversy after social justice controversy in the name of progress. They can call for the doxing of children or even possibly violence against children in the the name of social justice (and tolerance???).

What twitter and other social media companies want is the ability to censor speech while retaining the liability protections that comes with being a "common carrier of information". The rhetoric of "fighting NAZI's is a distraction.

[nosystemdthanks]

I think the main reason's fairly simple; unmoderated forums by definition don't deny access to anyone, and so they're inevitably going to attract people who are denied access everywhere else. Since proponents of far right views are generally discouraged on mainstream forums, they're the ones who will be drawn to unmoderated ones.

ahh logic, even in the 21st century!

[Flash]

The Lonely Work of Moderating Hacker News
A very interesting article from the New Yorker that seems germane to this thread. Much too long to be summarized here.

[nosystemdthanks]

The Lonely Work of Moderating Hacker News
A very interesting article from the New Yorker that seems germane to this thread. Much too long to be summarized here.

moderation isnt a fun job, thats for sure.

[Colonel Panic]

The Lonely Work of Moderating Hacker News
A very interesting article from the New Yorker that seems germane to this thread. Much too long to be summarized here.

moderation isnt a fun job, thats for sure.

I know. I used to run my old school's alumni forum whilst the guy who set it up was recovering from an eye operation and at one point there was a cricket match going on (I won't say which one) which one team lost very narrowly. A couple of guys on the forum entertained the suggestion that the team lost because one of the team's players deliberately threw the match. I had to tell them (politely) to knock it off because we could have been sued.

[greengeek]

Funnily enough both far right and far left viewpoints always seem to result in violent fascist acts.

So in my view, left and right extremes are more circular than polar. One leads directly to the other in a continuum. The extreme viewpoints are all about acquiring power. Maybe that is at the heart of narcissism.

And surely there are more than just two perspectives. Many many shades of grey.