A few days ago, Reginald Braithwaite posted an excellent piece titled “So Long, Reddit,” in which he stated that he would no longer contribute to a website that makes money off hate speech.
Racist discussion threads (“sub-reddits”) like Chimpire might stand as a testament to just how far Reddit is willing to take its policy of free, virtually unmoderated discussion, but as Braithwaite correctly points out, Reddit is a business, and it’s making money off adverts placed in those threads. Essentially, as he puts it, they’re monetizing hate. While the majority of Reddit users may completely disagree with the sentiments expressed in these threads, they’re supporting their existence by supporting the website and its current policies.
This then begs the question: what are we complicit with, or could we consider ourselves to be complicit with, by continuing to be part of larger social networks? By giving Facebook money to post your adverts in people’s newsfeeds, are you supporting their “real name” policy and its negative implications for the transgender and drag community? By viewing sponsored photos on Instagram and contributing to their advertising revenue, are you supporting the deletion of breastfeeding photos as “obscene”?
If you create your own private social network, on your own website, you know exactly where every dollar is going. You can create policies and terms that you’re proud to announce. You can rest assured that everything you’re participating in sits well with your personal sense of right and wrong.
Have not read the whole article and what other countries do is their business. But here in America we have this thing called Free speech. Your speech does not have to be true, rational, or even polite. We can say any crazy thing we like, Hence; “Free Speech”. If a person reads something that offends them they are more than welcome to move along and find something to read that does not offend them. They can also just stop going to those sites as you suggest, but should not be bothered by the fact that others will continue to use such sites. I myself am offended by porn sites so I don’t go to them but if others do that is none of my business. It’s not like I am going to start a boycott or protest march just because gross naked people having sex with animals offend me. If all else fails, I am pretty sure all devices have an off switch. I know that here in America we have what we refer too as “Snowflakes” that suffer from ” Hypersensitivity Syndrome”. That is when one’s own character is so fragile (like a snowflake) they get offended rather easily. I don’t know for sure but I think there is a pill for those who are suffering from it. The internet can be a shocking & scary place for Snowflakes. Like the Viagra commercials on T.V. Ask your doctor if you are healthy enough for internet activity. This reminds me of what I so often read about how to stop Bulling on Facebook and my answer simple. “TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER!” Once a person turns off their computer the bulling stops instantly! The offending websites stop and any insults stop. I have found this method to work 100% of the time. But again this is just MHO.
Peace be with you all~
That’s one way to look at it…but there are many “snowflakes” out there who still want to go online and do stuff. For me, on my own community, i see it as my job to offer a safe environment that even “snowflakes” can participate and not just thick-skinned. So, I have a clear line between expressing one opinion and trolling. That said, everybody should do what they think is best for the community.
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