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Reddit Bans Subreddits Related To Selling Guns, Drugs, Sex, and More (bloomberg.com)

New submitter cornholed writes: Yesterday, Reddit updated their Content Policy forbidding transactions for certain goods and services. From the formal announcement on Reddit: "As of today, users may not use Reddit to solicit or facilitate any transaction or gift involving certain goods and services, including: firearms, ammunition, or explosives; drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, or any controlled substances (except advertisements placed in accordance with our advertising policy); paid services involving physical sexual contact; stolen goods; personal information; falsified official documents or currency." Bloomberg has an interesting write-up on how Reddit is wading into the gun control debate. See this post on Reddit for a full-list of all subreddits banned. "Reddit has been something of a Wild West for users building communities by curating and commenting on content in subreddits," reports Bloomberg. "Sometimes, as in the case with gun sales, marketplaces emerge in the course of conversations within specific communities. With Reddit's increased popularity -- the site is the sixth-most-visited in the world -- has come introspection and stricter content guidelines. The company recognizes its responsibility for having provided a platform for hate groups to flourish and, more recently, the possibility that Russian propaganda on the site may have played a role in influencing the 2016 presidential election."

167 of 277 comments (clear)

  1. time to bring back USENET? :) by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 4, Insightful

    USENET is/was a purely peer-to-peer system with no effective censorship. The downside to this, of course, was massive quantities of spam, which killed it. If someone could effectively solve the spam issue without censoring...

    1. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      If someone could effectively solve the spam issue without censoring...

      I think that's what's called a paradox.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It just needs a moderation protocol on top of it. Let people subscribe to what ever moderation service they want to read USENET with.

    3. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by asdfman2000 · · Score: 1

      If someone could effectively solve the spam issue without censoring...

      I think that's what's called a paradox.

      Shitty people ruin good things for everyone. News at 11.

    4. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      It just needs a moderation protocol on top of it. Let people subscribe to what ever moderation service they want to read USENET with.

      You'll still get people whining about censorship, just as they did whne Twitter (or some 3rd party for twitter) did something similar.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    5. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by alvinrod · · Score: 2

      Ah but that's the beauty of it though. You can just us a moderation service that filters out whining and spam.

    6. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

      At some point, could the quantity of spam overwhelm any third-party moderation service? i.e. if the signal-noise ratio was made 1:10000 by spammers, on the principle that sending spam is basically free, and 1 in 1000 spam messages will evade filters.

    7. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by mysidia · · Score: 5, Insightful

      What we need is Catered censors ---- In other words, censors who are Approved by the group they are censoring, For example:
        in a "Gun Sales forum" --- the censors would act according to the wishes of THAT community and not be subject to the OVERALL Public opinion or scrutiny by a Corporate overlord, And then: effective means in place of monitoring the usage and cancelling or revoking the censorship powers in the event that one of the approved censors becomes rogue and starts going against the desires of THAT PARTICULAR community.

      PROBABLY the idea would be to have a means of marking spam so it's hidden by default, But concerned citizens can turn on an advanced feature and see all the "Deleted" or "Censored" messages.

    8. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by zieroh · · Score: 2

      Isn't this essentially what reddit already has? Community moderators on a per-subreddit basis?

      --
      People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
    9. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by mysidia · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Isn't this essentially what reddit already has? Community moderators on a per-subreddit basis?

      Yes... Unfortunately reddit also has Site Admins who can exercise independent authority over any Post, Article, and can even destroy an entire Sub. And the unwanted censorship actions are coming from the Global Site Admins group, not the moderators.

    10. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Usenet is not dead.
      However it is usually a payed service of your ISP to connect to it.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    11. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 2

      More precisely an "oxymoron" :D

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    12. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It also has (had? I don't know) a shitty CEO who modified users' posts.

    13. Re: time to bring back USENET? :) by EETech1 · · Score: 2

      Put the spam on a blockchain, and let the AI train on it.

    14. Re: time to bring back USENET? :) by J.+T.+MacLeod · · Score: 1

      Usenet is still accessible, but you will have to pay for the service from an Usenet aggregator since it is no longer provided (or at least provided in complete fashion) by ISPs these days.

    15. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by AHuxley · · Score: 2

      A GUI over Usenet and IRC? With a web cam and mic? Encrypted P2P?
      Its all in the GUI.
      The more a brand attempts to support SJW by banning content, the more the internet gets creative to move around the SJW censorship brands.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    16. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 2

      Then they can unsubscribe from that 'moderation server' and subscribe to another one.

      Everyone talking at once in one place would be great, let people choose what filter they want to see the world through.

    17. Re: time to bring back USENET? :) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Free access to text-only Usenet
      https://www.eternal-september....

    18. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 2

      Most nntp servers have hooks for hooks to check content.

      Just make sure that every post is at an 8th grade reading level.

      Offer paid 'moderation services'. For $1/month you can get a 'white list' of comments to fetch and read and all of the spam gets modded immediately at -10 because they don't.

      Or this: https://xkcd.com/810/

    19. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Such sites already exist, e.g. Voat will continue to allow this content and is largely community moderated.

      Sometimes it works, sometimes the lack of detached, outside influence leads to bizarre little enclaves where things get more and more extreme due to a kind of feedback loop.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    20. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      ggAutoBlock was decried as censorship and persecution, even though it was entirely voluntary. The creator was harassed. Creating and maintaining such lists is going to be a thankless, punishing task.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    21. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by BlueStrat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The complete antithesis to free speech would be if you were forced to spread messages you disagree with.

      Oh, you mean like a baker forced to bake a wedding cake with a pro-same-sex marriage message when it's against his (Christian) religion? (Muslims get a pass)

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    22. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by Iamthecheese · · Score: 1

      Dammit, Anon, you should know the Commodore 64 Voat is running on couldn't handle the existing flood, let alone that brought by further recommendations. Put's refusal to take donations and upgrade isn't helping. I honestly worry Voat won't be here next year.

      --
      If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
    23. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by bsolar · · Score: 2

      If I remember correctly part of the rationale was that baking a cake does not constitute "expression of free speech", so no "free speech" consideration applies.

    24. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by JesseMcDonald · · Score: 2

      That was the official rationale, but it doesn't stand up to close scrutiny. Being forced to contribute to someone else's speech is still forced speech. Moreover, issues of free speech aside, being forced to provide any service against your will is slavery.

      --
      "The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else." - Bastiat
    25. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by CanHasDIY · · Score: 2

      Right, because there is absolutely no creativity allowed when baking.

      --
      An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
    26. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by MooseTick · · Score: 1

      With that logic, then civil rights are a violation to free speech. If some restaurant doesn't want to serve to blacks/chinese/norwegians/whatever then they should be able to discriminate. Otherwise, they are being forced to contribute to integration which they may not agree with.

    27. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by BlueStrat · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I was under the impression that the cake did not have "homosexuality is great" written on it in frosting. If it did, you might have a point. Otherwise you're grasping desperately at straws.

      No, that *was exactly* the point. The bakery and owner in question had served this lesbian couple on multiple occasions prior knowing they were a gay couple. They sold them goods each time with no problem at all. The message on the cake was the sticking-point that went too far. Even then, the baker offered recommendations for other bakeries that he felt were good shops that would have no problem with their message and provide good quality and value.

      That was not good enough and they filed the discrimination complaint. Why are Muslim-owned halal bakeries never challenged? It seems Christians are considered "safe targets" for attacks on their religion but not Muslims in the US. This tells me it's not about principle at all, it's about attacking other's beliefs with which you disagree, but only those others you are confident are too civilized to attack back. It's about bigotry and hatred and not about equal rights and protections.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    28. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The difference between a halal bakery and the "gay bakery" is the difference between "We don't sell cakes made with lard to anyone for any reason" and "We don't sell cakes to you specifically because you are the wrong category of person."

    29. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by pnutjam · · Score: 1

      Mandate a sign indicating every category you won't sell to, it would still be illegal, but at least it would be free market.

    30. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by Straif · · Score: 2

      But the bakers in question weren't even restricting sales to the couples, merely the special order of a wedding cakes. In at least 2 of these cases the shops in question had already sold to the complaining couples with full knowledge of their sexual orientation. They had no issue with selling to gay couples for normal general goods (general cakes, cookies, cupcakes etc..) it was only the sale of wedding cakes that they refused.

      Wedding cakes are, in almost all cases, special order cakes and take a lot more personalized effort to create. The bakers considered this a form or their artistic expression and as such refused to participate in an act that was against their beliefs. In 2 cases the States decided that a baker could be forced to participate against their will while in the latest case, in California, the judge sided with the baker.

      It's the same as a politician wanting to play a particular artists song at their event. If they choose to pay the licensing fees to the proper company they can play the pre-recorded mp3 to their hearts content, despite the artists protests, but that doesn't mean the artist is obligated to actually appear and play live or even make a special re-mix for them.

      --
      Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
    31. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Another problem is that groups of frequently posting inane people can, without actually spamming, destroy the usefulness of a group. I witnessed the fall of soc.history.misc when the idiots from sci.military.naval moved in.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    32. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by Straif · · Score: 1

      You've obviously never dealt with a wedding cake before. Unless you are having the most boring wedding ever there is no way you can compare the time required for a proper wedding cake to a regular cake. Besides the usual ornate decoration there is also a matter of engineering involved when dealing with a cake, or series of cakes as wedding cakes usually are, meant to look amazing and still feed a large number of people.

      These couples were even offered the choice of purchasing one of their normal cakes but wanted a wedding cake so they obviously thought there was a difference too.

      --
      Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
    33. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by Straif · · Score: 1

      You can refuse to provide a future service for whatever reason you want. Unlike selling a pre-existing cake available on the bakery shelf for anyone to purchase these people wanted to contract for a special one-off wedding cake which takes the artistic skills of the baker. You can make a case for the pre-existing cake as a 'public accommodation' instance but the one-off wedding cake is not pre-existing and takes future special effort by the baker.
      You might even be able to make a case if they refused to sell them a standard cake on a future date when they have a set schedule of baking x standard cakes a day but in these cases they are actually asking for the baker to go beyond performing their standard baking schedule and performing an additional job for a specialty cake. The fact that they perform this service for some people but not others, for whatever reason they choose, is exactly the same as any artist who chooses to perform at some private functions but not others.

      As for people refusing to perform weddings for various reason, that is already the case. A justice of the peace, being a public official, has to provide wedding services to anyone legally allowed to marry but a clergy of whatever faith or even someone with a internet certificate can pick and choose their clients any way they wish. Or are you calling for orthodox Rabbis to be forced to perform gay weddings simply because you want them to?

      The rest of your list is equally ridiculous as the people you list are already free to choose their clients however they wish. Doctors are a perfect example as they are required to perform emergency procedures to stabilize a patient (the standard baking if you will) but under no obligation to perform specialty operations (ex. plastic surgery, etc..) unless they choose to. Some doctors in public hospitals have effectively an extended standard baking menu but are still under no obligation to go above and beyond their normal procedures.

      --
      Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
    34. Re: time to bring back USENET? :) by thewolfkin · · Score: 1

      more like UTF-8 classes.

      --
      Just another second banana
    35. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      AC they are all topics SJW want to see banned from the internet.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    36. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by u801e · · Score: 1

      If someone could effectively solve the spam issue without censoring...

      I've always thought that client side filtering was sufficient to handle spam. That is, the reader decides what articles to filter out rather than relying on a central authority.

    37. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

      Not the same thing and you know it. Freedom of religion. It's protected. Homosexuality is not protected. Race is. If you think it's protected, show me in the US Code where it is. You won't find it.

      (if we're talking about the same case -)
      The thing is, they baked cakes for that couple in the past. They simply didn't want to participate in that ceremony. Said they'd bake the cake, they wouldn't be there. Somehow that is discrimination? Sounds more like forced slavery. If you don't show up for their "wedding", you lose everything you own, which they did. All because they were somehow offended?

      You're defending that?

      No, this was as close as they could get to a lynching of Christians. As the other guy said - how come Muslims get away with this. They wouldn't bake them a cake under any circumstances. They also don't carry pork products. Should we make them or say they're discriminating upon Christians? They lose everything they own?

      Keep it up. Set that into law. Don't like someone, claim some BS and they lose everything. Just wait until you're on the receiving end.

      BTW, Not sure why they want to call it a wedding. Call it what it is - a screwing. Then they can say they were screwed after they divorce.

    38. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by mysidia · · Score: 1

      You often have different groups of people in subreddits and not all of them agrees with the moderators so the issue you highlight also exists at lower levels.

      That's true.... And if enough of them disagree, then they go form their own sub according to their different vision.
      But the idea is to be able to create a Community, and the rules of that community ought to be the rules, and shouldn't be able to be superceded by some other minority's rules within that community ---- Neither yours as an individual, nor some special elite cadre of "Super Moderators".

    39. Re:time to bring back USENET? :) by BlueStrat · · Score: 1

      You cannot deny a service you offer to the entire world to particular people because they fall into the wrong category of person.

      So an Atheist commercial mural artist must accept a job to paint a Christian-themed mural if requested? How about a print-shop with staunchly pro-choice owners, must they accept a job to print pro-life materials?

      Be careful where you shit, it might just wind up on *your* shoe.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
  2. The last few days have been strangely coordinated. by asdfman2000 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A lot of these have dropped in the last few days.

    YouTube Bans Firearms Demo Videos
    Citi sets restrictions on gun sales by retail clients by adding arbitrary rules (can only sell to 21+ years-old, no standard capacity magazines, etc)

  3. I Would Like a "Bunny" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Mobster: I would like a "bunny".
    Sales Mobster: What kind of "bunny"? A semi-automatic "bunny" [making a gesture like he's holding rifle] or a hand held "bunny" [making a gesture like he's holding pistol]?
    Mobster: Whichever "bunny", you think is better for shooting a guy in the head.

  4. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Welcome to the future, comrade.

  5. Meh, meh, meh by bursch-X · · Score: 1, Redundant

    voat.co

    --
    There are two rules for success:
    1. Never tell everything you know.
    1. Re:Meh, meh, meh by MerlTurkin · · Score: 2

      No thanks.

    2. Re:Meh, meh, meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Voat is contaminated by the racist fuckheads who went there after Reddit purged them. Now any self-respecting person who goes there comes back looking for the clear history button in their browsers.

      Better to let that one be and find another alternative instead.

    3. Re:Meh, meh, meh by zieroh · · Score: 1

      Better to let that one be and find another alternative instead.

      The problem with any given alternative is that the people who get pushed out of established communities tend to be the ones that were already on the fringe. Thus, any alternative community has a very high fringe-nutjob-to-levelheaded ratio by simple virtue of how said alternative community came into being.

      --
      People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
  6. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Sheep often move en masse, as though there was some coordination in effect.

    Perhaps that's news to you.

  7. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by asdfman2000 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sheep often move en masse, as though there was some coordination in effect.

    Perhaps that's news to you.

    Do you think these policy changes for companies like Citigroup and Youtube happen overnight? I'm sure these companies have been working on these for a while - it's just strange they ALL get announced within 24-48 hours of each other.

    I'm not saying there's a conspiracy. I'm just pointing out the timing is coincidental.

  8. Now all they need.. by Z80a · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Is to ban the sale of rock and roll.

    1. Re:Now all they need.. by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 2

      Maybe that would give it back some of the edge it lost over the decades. Rock 'n' roll used to be the devil's music, corrupting our youth and leading them drinking, smoking the Mary J and having pre-marital sex.

      Now it's just the same crap as everything else, being played on corporate radio, completely toothless and lacking any sort of passion and righteous anger.

      I'm not a huge fan of black metal (more into death/doom/power), but I think those freaks have a point. Make music dangerous again.

      --
      Eat the rich.
  9. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by geekmux · · Score: 2

    "Citi said that in addition to the policy for new clients, it is starting talks with current clients on their practices and if they do not adopt changes the bank will help “transition their business away from Citi.”

    From a financial standpoint this would be called shooting themselves in the foot.

    Cracks me up when talking about an anti-gun policy.

  10. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by asdfman2000 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "Citi said that in addition to the policy for new clients, it is starting talks with current clients on their practices and if they do not adopt changes the bank will help “transition their business away from Citi.”

    From a financial standpoint this would be called shooting themselves in the foot.

    This is just Citi throwing a minority under the bus for free publicity. From what it looks like, this is only for corporate accounts (that is, if your business uses Citi as your bank). I imagine gun retailers are a drop in the bucket for them.

    The biggest possible hit they'll take is fallout from boycotts from gun groups. Looks like it's already all over social media: https://twitter.com/Citi/statu...

  11. 1956 redux ? by swell · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Those born before Netflix might remember network TV shows with bland family content where you never see naked people or hear swearing. When Lucy, of 'I Love Lucy', got pregnant, she was not allowed to be seen on screen in that condition. We listened to Lawrence Welk music and saw the art of Norman Rockwell on magazine covers. We waved the flag on 4th of July and cheered for our baseball team and joined Boy Scouts. Yes, youngsters, that was life before the internet. We had to read National Geographic magazine to see naked people.

    But why was that so? Because of the Religious Right. Because of the Moral Majority. Because of Puritans who ran the country. But mostly because of advertising sponsors who were afraid to be associated with anything 'immoral'.

    We now swim in porn of all kinds with Game of Thrones and other films by Amazon, Netflix and other new media innovators. We have chat rooms where we are free to swear and say outrageous things. We freely criticize politicians and corporations and media and each other. The internet has freed us from Moral Morons and Patriotic Pimps and Advertising Assholes who suppressed free thought since the Dark Ages.

    But it's happening again. The Wild West internet is gradually coming under the thumb of the Pompous Puritans. Facebook, Twitter and even Reddit are shutting down free speech bit by bit. And yes it's largely due to advertising sponsors and partly due to threats by governments around the world.

    Was Reddit the last major bastion of Free Speech? Is the internet going to become as bland and mindless as 1956 television?

    --
    ...omphaloskepsis often...
    1. Re:1956 redux ? by zieroh · · Score: 4, Interesting

      But it's happening again. The Wild West internet is gradually coming under the thumb of the Pompous Puritans. Facebook, Twitter and even Reddit are shutting down free speech bit by bit.

      What about the free speech rights of Facebook or Twitter or Reddit? As much as I despise at least one of those corporations, I have to concede that those corporations also have the right to free speech, namely the right to control what appears on their platform. It's their platform -- we're all just guests there. To put the free speech rights of the guests above the owners of those platforms is to rob them of their rights.

      I appreciate the argument, and the desire to have free speech. But one person's free speech cannot infringe on someone else's.

      --
      People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
    2. Re:1956 redux ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Was Reddit the last major bastion of Free Speech?

      Was reddit *ever* a bastion of free speech? The karma system they invented algorithmically represses and censors users who don't conform to the groupthink more efficiently than an army of ironfisted moderators ever could.

      4chan is about the last major site left with pure(ish) free speech (modulo the occasional vindictive mod). Also worth pointing out that /pol/ is more active than all political subreddits combined on a posts per hour basis.

    3. Re:1956 redux ? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Corporations have no free speech "rights", check your constitution.
      And then again "free speech" is not what you think it is. It only means the government can not harass/punish/imprison you for what you said AGAINST that government.
      You still are not free to insult other citizens or call for violence, your legislation who has to file a case and who can prosecute it, may vary.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    4. Re:1956 redux ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This time instead of the "Religious Right", we have the "Religious Left".

      The SJW ideology which has all but taken over the Left certainly fits the definition of a religion by any measure. "Facts, statistics, and science be damned -- don't hurt my feelings!" Nevermind that the scary-looking AR-15s aren't any different from any other rifle. Nevermind that deaths by handgun far outpace deaths by rifle. Nevermind that the highest areas for violent crime are actually the areas with the tightest gun control (and don't bother bringing up Australia's effective gun ban since the violent crime rate was already falling in that country before the ban ever took place, just like it's *falling* in the U.S.).

    5. Re:1956 redux ? by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Re "Corporations have no free speech "rights", check your constitution."
      When a brand opens a forum for political talk to the wider public some state laws do get interesting.
      The US constitution prevents the US government from stopping speech.
      State laws in the past did have guidance on what political speech was protected in areas that invited the wider public in.
      Different US laws around the USA are not only all about what the government cannot stop as a government.
      Some state laws in the past did try to protect political speech in different areas open to the public.
      Later legal reform did stop a lot of that but past US state law protecting free of speech should also be reflected on.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    6. Re:1956 redux ? by labnet · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The Wild West internet is gradually coming under the thumb of the Pompous Puritans

      Except these 'Pomous Puritans' are now from the hard left instead of the religious right.

      --
      46137
    7. Re:1956 redux ? by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      > Was Reddit the last major bastion of Free Speech?

      No, Redditards downvote anything that doesn't fit into their myopic view.

      > Is the internet going to become as bland and mindless as 1956 television?

      Welcome to new world of Political Censorship -- where anything that doesn't fit into the Stupid Juvenile Whiner mindset is marginalized (at best), or censored (at worst.)

    8. Re:1956 redux ? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      What about the free speech rights of Facebook or Twitter or Reddit? As much as I despise at least one of those corporations, I have to concede that those corporations also have the right to free speech, namely the right to control what appears on their platform.

      They have the right to censor (on their own platform), and we have the right to say it's a bad idea and we oppose it.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    9. Re:1956 redux ? by Air-conditioned+cowh · · Score: 1

      Can't we just demonize and vilify puritans and get them banned?

    10. Re:1956 redux ? by SvnLyrBrto · · Score: 1

      Perhaps Reddit initially sold themselves as a "say anything" platform. But Facebook sure didn't. In fact, their whole schtick from the very beginning was a more controlled and curated experience than the cesspool MySpace had become. That was the reasoning behind the "real names" policy. And that 's why everyones' Facebook wall looks the same, vs. all of the garbage CSS you could use to "pimp your myspace". I don't recall Twitter actively billing themselves as an anything goes platform either; but just as one that handles so much traffic that it's practically impossible to police.

      And r

      --
      Imagine all the people...
    11. Re:1956 redux ? by pots · · Score: 1

      When Lucy, of 'I Love Lucy', got pregnant, she was not allowed to be seen on screen in that condition. ... But why was that so? Because of the Religious Right.

      Or... because only Lucille Ball was pregnant, not Lucy Riccardo.

    12. Re:1956 redux ? by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      Back in the 50s, you also had drinking, marijuana and *gasp* pre-marital sex. Rock 'n' roll was corrupting the youth!

      --
      Eat the rich.
    13. Re:1956 redux ? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Even back in the 1950s there was porn and demand for it. Often it was sold as documentaries about nudists or dramas set in nudist camps.

      What changed was not that the puritans went away, it's that it got cheaper to make porn. First theaters started showing it, so it became much more profitable. Then home video arrived and recording directly onto tape made the whole process a lot cheaper.

      The increased competition and difficulty regulating the industry forced mainstream TV to loosen up.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    14. Re:1956 redux ? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Even 4chan is decried by some as being guilty of censorship and oppression. 4chan banned GamerGate, and the people behind it moved to 8chan. Even the mighty /pol/ has some banned topics - the sticky at the top of every page lists questions like "is X group white?" as being not allowed.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    15. Re:1956 redux ? by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      Corporations have no free speech "rights"

      There are no corporations that aren't run by people. You do not surrender your constitutionally protected rights just because you gather together as a group to run a landscaping business, a charity, a consultancy, or an internet messaging operation.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    16. Re:1956 redux ? by sad_ · · Score: 1

      we'll always have 4chan!

      --
      On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
    17. Re:1956 redux ? by zieroh · · Score: 1

      Corporations have no free speech "rights", check your constitution.

      I wish that were true. But it's not. See: Corporate personhood.

      The Citizens United decision hinges on the first amendment rights of corporate entities.

      --
      People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
    18. Re:1956 redux ? by zieroh · · Score: 1

      Which is exactly what these platforms are doing.

      Nice try. But no. That's not how it works. They own their platform. They get to control it. You don't own their platform, nor do I. Your free speech rights don't extend to forcing someone else to say something they don't want to say. Period. On the flip side, they can't force you to say something that you don't want to say, either.

      In your version of "free speech", you get to force other parties to deliver a message against their will. What happens when someone gets to force YOU to say something YOU don't want to say?

      Yeah. You might want to reconsider your position.

      --
      People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
    19. Re:1956 redux ? by zieroh · · Score: 1

      They have the right to censor (on their own platform), and we have the right to say it's a bad idea and we oppose it.

      Yes. We do. And I support that. And I'll be there to tell you why, legally speaking, you're wrong.

      --
      People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
    20. Re:1956 redux ? by be951 · · Score: 1

      And then again "free speech" is not what you think it is.

      You may be thinking of rights guaranteed by the first amendment. Free speech is what (along with the other enumerated rights) is protected by the first amendment. The terms are often used interchangeably, but can certainly mean different things.

      It only means the government can not harass/punish/imprison you for what you said AGAINST that government.

      If by "it", you mean the 1st amendment, you are not quite correct. For a famous example, look up Larry Flynt. He has been the target of numerous legal actions attempting to limit his free speech/expression rights, most of which were not related to anti-government expressions but rather for "speech" that was offensive to some portion of the community. That kind of thing could be described as "against community standards" or "against the mores of the majority of the population", but not really against the government. The U.S. Constitution protects all speech (from being infringed upon by the government), regardless of the subject or intention (with limited exceptions).

      Corporations have no free speech "rights", check your constitution.

      My copy (of the U.S. Constitution -- if you mean some other constitution, you should specify which one) doesn't say "except for corporations" anywhere in it, nor does it say anything about "humans" or "people" with regard to free speech in the first amendment (it does regarding peaceable assembly and petition for redress of grievances, but those are distinct rights enumerated separately from free speech). Maybe you should check your copy? Compare it to an "official" copy from the Government Printing Office, or National Archives or somewhere?

    21. Re:1956 redux ? by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Got anything to back up that claim? The religious right wants to ban a lot of things.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    22. Re:1956 redux ? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Does not change the fact that the corporation has no free speech rights ... so what is your point?

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    23. Re:1956 redux ? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      most of which were not related to anti-government expressions but rather for "speech" that was offensive to some portion of the community.
      And that is not protected by the first amendment, that was one of my points.

      Sorry, your interpretation of the "Bill of Rights" makes no sense. Obviously the whole bill only covers people. Does not matter if they are explicitly mentioned or not.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    24. Re:1956 redux ? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      No, but I'm not wrong legally speaking. Everything I said was fully in accord with the law.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  12. Re:It's just.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Name calling and whining over what someone else does with their platform. Indeed, that is what snowflakes do. I love how conservatives demand how other people must act and speak while calling liberals authoritarians for demanding that all people are created equal and must be treated so. Cry harder, it's working, you're winning!

  13. An absolute crock by tannhaus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Guns are not illegal. The purchases on gundeals were all above board NFA licensed businesses that required NFA transfers that included background checks. So, there was no illegal activity going on there. What's next? They ban communities where people hookup because some people consider it immoral? So posting pictures of your genitalia is ok, but getting a good deal on a scope isn't?

    1. Re:An absolute crock by ocsibrm · · Score: 1

      With the recent effective repeal of section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (Which allowed safe harbors for ISP's and websites) via SESTA and FOSTA, reddit is likely being extremely paranoid with regards to anything that could get them sued, especially since the acts are applied *retroactively*.

    2. Re:An absolute crock by greenwow · · Score: 1

      Not really. I found an archive of the gundeals subreddit, and I didn't see any guns for sale. It was just parts and ammo which are basically unregulated so it's good reddit decided to shutdown people that posted deals and coupons for those things.

    3. Re:An absolute crock by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1

      Guns are not illegal.

      Yet. The idea of this:

      firearms, ammunition, or explosives; drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, or any controlled substances

      Is to throw "firearms" and "ammunition" in with things that are illegal or looked down upon why wide swaths of the country. They want you to see "guns" and "drugs" in the same sentence time and again, so at some point you'll start to see them in the same way.

      We really need to fight back against this bullshit. It's time that the majority in this country starts making these slimeballs bake those cakes that they don't want to bake. I don't know the best way, yet, but we need to come up with something.

    4. Re:An absolute crock by be951 · · Score: 1

      Guns are not illegal

      Broadly speaking, that's true in the U.S. But of course, reddit is not a U.S.-only site. And certainly there are some guns that are illegal in the U.S. And of course, legal guns can be acquired or transferred illegally. And given the complexity of gun laws across various jurisdictions, validating the legality of sales or transfers could be rather cumbersome.

      The purchases on gundeals were all above board NFA licensed businesses that required NFA transfers that included background checks

      I don't know if that is true or not. And it seems doubtful that you can verify it with a high degree of certainty. But even if it is true that a small, well moderated area of reddit met that standard, does that mean that there have been (and will be) no questionable or illegal transfers on the entire site? Obviously, it is foolishness to try to make that claim. So, should reddit have one set of rules for some areas of the site, and different rules for other parts that may be less vetted and/or less self-regulated? And how often should the company that owns the site re-evaluate to make sure that the rules of a subreddit are adequate to ensure all appropriate laws are being followed across any and all jurisdictions, and that the users are following those rules, and that the moderators are enforcing them? Seems like a fairly excessive amount of work to ensure that commercial transactions (of which the site gets nothing at all -- no commissions or transaction fees or percentages of any type since they're not per se a commerce site) follow the law. Especially when you consider that such transactions might engender liability, or even just bad press, if a gun purchased there is used to harm someone.

      Also note that guns are not singled out. Alcohol and tobacco are also legal for adults in most places, and transactions for those (and several other things that are more highly restricted or generally illegal) are also banned from the site. While content that is illegal has been officially banned by their policy (no doubt as long as they've had a policy), more clarity is probably long overdue regarding site activity that is potentially illegal or legally restricted/questionable, or facilitates related activity that of that type.

    5. Re:An absolute crock by be951 · · Score: 1

      They want you to see "guns" and "drugs" in the same sentence time and again

      Have you been to reddit? There are large communities there that look quite favorably on drugs of many types. This is simple CYA. They are not a commerce site, so there really isn't much up side and there may be significant down side to allowing strictly regulated items to be exchanged or sold on the site.

      Don't get me wrong. I support your right to get as outraged over this as you want. I just think you are mistaken in attributing malicious intent to this particular policy.

    6. Re:An absolute crock by be951 · · Score: 1

      If a community self-enforces a behavior then you're much less likely to have problems.

      Sure, but the subreddit isn't the community that Reddit has to worry about. All of reddit is. And that community doesn't have a very good track record of across-the-board upstanding behavior.

      Because the answer to the question: "Can [Reddit] trust all users to police themselves?" is a solid "no", it makes more sense to ban all transactions for goods that have virtually any restrictions on sale or transfer.

  14. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by sd4f · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's definitely trying to make the news cycle, and if there are any lessons to be learnt from gamergate, it's being orchestrated, and, I'm not surprised to see some of the same companies involved again.

    The rhyme of history is sounding again. When the printing press was invented in Europe, it didn't take long for establishments to see that sharing information was not always in their interests, books got banned, notably political ones. I think we're just in a similar phase as then; some companies are taking it on themselves to consolidate and control what gets shared.

  15. Non political my ass by Snotnose · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just like Google, err,, cough cough utube cough, you are clearly showing your political bias.

    Doesn't matter if you are for or against gun control, you can't deny utube and reddit are left wing.

    / don't own any guns
    // never bought a GF an abortion
    /// I must be a D

    1. Re:Non political my ass by edtice1559 · · Score: 4, Insightful
      The reality is that our world is bifurcating. That's happening for a number of reasons. An obvious one is the "hollowing out" of the middle class. But there's certainly more to it than that. In the 1980s or so, when religion was still very influential various Christian groups discovered the power of the boycott and other non-religious economic activities to push a social agenda onto non-believers. I have no idea why they would do this. If you force an atheist to keep his business closed on Sunday morning does that help him get to heaven? Does it help you? I've actually read the Christian bible and didn't see support for this anywhere

      Christianity perfected these techniques but didn't invest anything in marketing in order to update it's business model and messaging for modern times and, as a result, lost much of it's influence. However those techniques are now being wielded by those with a progressive agenda many of whom were probably one-time church members.

      Companies see the writing on the wall and it very well may be the case that, at some point, stores have to have (D) and (R) after them just like our elected officials. This forces them to look forward and figure out which views the majority will hold and engage in virtue signaling in this area.

      This is a terrible outcome because it means that it will become much harder to challenge majority views. I think it's a shame, but it's unavoidable. The clocks aren't going to turn back so life is always going to be somewhat progressive. But we need strong conservative voices to ensure that policy doesn't get ahead of the data or ignore critical facts (like not being able to borrow infinite amounts of money.) Unfortunately, the only "conservative" voices we have in the US are always making impossible promises to turn back the clock rather than trying to argue for smoother transitions.

    2. Re: Non political my ass by bestweasel · · Score: 1

      In what way are they left wing?

    3. Re:Non political my ass by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Why isn't there a middle road? Like designing systems to keep weapons out of the hands of people that are likely to use them to hurt themselves or others, while still protecting people's basic right to tools useful for self defense? Trust me, a bump stock isn't very useful for home protection.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    4. Re:Non political my ass by mishehu · · Score: 1

      A bumpstock isn't even useful in a homicide situation either, even a mass homicide. The only time I remember hearing about one in use for criminal activities was the Las Vegas attack, and that guy planned that attack like it was his full time day job. And I'm quite positive that the bumpstock did little to actually up the casualty count. As for keeping guns out of the hands of those who may hurt themselves or others - well, unless your crystal ball is infallible, it is not always possible to determine that. Even look at the Austin Bomber and how people who knew him were shocked that he was the bomber.

  16. Re:It's just.... by zieroh · · Score: 1

    The parent was talking about the top-level moderators catering to the snowflakes, not irrelevant sub-level moderators

    Those aren't moderators. Those are Reddit executives.

    --
    People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
  17. Re:It's just.... by zieroh · · Score: 1

    How does it feel to be an asshole?

    You first.

    --
    People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
  18. It's their right to not be enablers by ichifish · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Seems like knowing that you've enabled a murder, an overdose, or a rape might keep you up at night. Maybe Reddit just doesn't want to be a part of it. It's a big old internet. Users that want to sell guns and drugs and sex can go somewhere else.

    1. Re:It's their right to not be enablers by PPH · · Score: 1

      Seems like knowing that you've enabled a murder, an overdose, or a rape might keep you up at night.

      And yet our cities' politicians are just inviting more homeless in all the time.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  19. Re: "Reddit has been something of a Wild West..." by zieroh · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "Reddit has been something of a Wild West for users building communities by curating and commenting on content in subreddits,"

    FALSE. They censor those who have right-wing viewpoints.

    Maybe if the right-wing viewpoints were expressed with less frothing-at-the-mouth fervor, the rest of us would take the viewpoints more seriously. As it is, most of the right-wing stuff has become so radical and offensive over the last few years that it shouldn't be surprising to anyone that those viewpoints are getting pushed out as fringe.

    In other words, if you want to have a meaningful conversation about any given topic, regardless of what side of the issue you're on, it would help if you didn't start with an obviously crazy and offensive standpoint (e.g. "lock her up" and other similar bullshit).

    --
    People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
  20. Re: The last few days have been strangely coordina by bestweasel · · Score: 2

    Is it a response to this, passed by the Senate 2 days ago?

    What happened instead is the FOSTA-SESTA package, in which House lawmakers have incorporated the worst provisions of both bills in ways aimed at making internet companies more subject to prosecution and lawsuits and more prone to censor users' speech online.

    According to the EFF:

    SESTA/FOSTA will silence online speech by forcing Internet platforms to censor their users.

  21. Re: "Reddit has been something of a Wild West..." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Have you visited r/The_Donald?

  22. Re:No worries. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    /. seems to have two of the three

  23. Re: "Reddit has been something of a Wild West..." by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

    In other words, if you want to have a meaningful conversation about any given topic, regardless of what side of the issue you're on, it would help if you didn't start with an obviously crazy and offensive standpoint

    Alas, given that some people consider the Second Amendment to be "crazy and offensive", it's pretty much impossible to avoid the label.

    Note that, from my PoV, it's the people who think the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments are Holy Writ, but the Second is just silliness who are "crazy and offensive".

    Just as the ones who think the Second is Holy Writ, but the First, Fourth and Fifth are just silliness are "crazy and offensive".

    Personally, I like the complete Bill of Rights. If you don't, push to get your vision enshrined in the Constitution. Not like there aren't procedures for Amending the thing....

    --

    "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  24. The more a site bans users content by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    The more users seek to embrace freedoms supported on better sites.
    US brands that support freedom of speech start trending.
    SJW brands that ban content become a meme.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  25. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by GrumpySteen · · Score: 3, Funny

    You figured it out. It's those damned bow and arrow makers who are behind the conspiracy to get guns banned in order to drive up their sales!

  26. Loophole by manu0601 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As of today, users may not use Reddit to solicit or facilitate any transaction or gift involving certain goods and services, including: firearms, ammunition, or explosives; drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, or any controlled substances (except advertisements placed in accordance with our advertising policy); paid services involving physical sexual contact; stolen goods; personal information; falsified official documents or currency

    If I read correctly, one can still trade chemical weapons. Elephant's tusks seems fine. Human organs trafficking seems to be in a grey zone because of physical contact.

    1. Re:Loophole by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Only physical sexual contact -- so only trafficking in sex organs is banned!

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    2. Re:Loophole by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      The link is in TFS, but I'll repost it here for you anyway: https://www.reddit.com/help/co...

      The first thing on the list of prohibited content is things that are illegal. Isn't selling chemical weapons, elephant tusks and human organs illegal?

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  27. Re:It's just.... by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1

    Asshole Reddit mods catering to the snowflakes. Jumping on the anti gun bandwagon.

    Meh, Reddit is a private company. If you don't like their rules go make your own pro-gun Reddit. That's how it works.

  28. Re:It's just.... by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1, Troll

    Name calling and whining over what someone else does with their platform. Indeed, that is what snowflakes do. I love how conservatives demand how other people must act and speak while calling liberals authoritarians for demanding that all people are created equal and must be treated so. Cry harder, it's working, you're winning!

    It's also ridiculous when "conservatives" complain about what private corporations like Reddit choose to do with their own platform.

    Hey "conservative" snowflakes - That's how capitalism is supposed to work.

  29. Re: "Reddit has been something of a Wild West..." by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1, Insightful

    FALSE. They censor those who have right-wing viewpoints.

    Nonsense. I'm frequently attacked by the "right" on Reddit.

    No one censors them.

    ...now right-wingers do have to deal with Redditors responding to them by brandishing pesky 'facts' which they often interpret as "attacks" but the fact that they can rarely rebut the facts proves they're not "attacks."

  30. Re: "Reddit has been something of a Wild West..." by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Alas, given that some people consider the Second Amendment to be "crazy and offensive", it's pretty much impossible to avoid the label.

    The "Crazy and Offensive" comes when supporters of the second amendment consider the deaths of children to be a reasonable price to pay for the right of crazies to buy assault weapons. In most people's world, there's no way that's not 'crazy and offensive.'

  31. Re: It's just.... by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1

    yeah, let me tell you how elections work....

    I live in Canada, Anonymous Coward. I know how elections work.

  32. Re:federated Reddit ? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

    The only 'fork' that I know of that is working out pretty well is Soylent News. They probably don't want publicity on threads like this, tho.

  33. Re: The last few days have been strangely coordina by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Do it for the children! Think of the children! It takes a village!

    The 90s wants their shitty stock phrases back.

    How many of your kids got shot? None? Exactly. So stop whining SJW style about how you need to take away other's rights.

  34. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by ElizabethGreene · · Score: 1

    It's worth noting that gun manufacturers and dealers are used to dealing with this sort of banking tomfoolery.

    It is a repeat of what they experienced in 2013 when the DOJ worked with banks to block their access to banking services in Operation Choke Point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... .

  35. sex is the odd one out by Tom · · Score: 1

    I always wonder why sex is named in the same context as guns, drugs and illegal materials.

    Drugs and guns you can argue are dangerous things.
    Illegal stuff is harmful to someone (the person you stole it from, for example).

    For some reason, we are still in the middle ages where sex is thrown in with these things, not for rational reasons, but because stuff-up moral preachers want to give it a bad taste.

    Will humanity ever grow up? We've been waiting since the Enlightenment.

    --
    Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
    1. Re:sex is the odd one out by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Sex can potentially cause harm, but in most cases it actually improves the participants health.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    2. Re:sex is the odd one out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Tom, this is not the case everywhere, but rather a US phenomenon. Given that many fringe religious groups fled to the US from Europe, and that they still have a big influence over US society, this is not surprising. Few religions have a very open view on sex.

      The US might be a very open and forwards-thinking country in many ways, but it is not very secularized. Compare different english speaking or even first world countries stance on religion in everyday life: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Importance_of_religion_by_country

    3. Re:sex is the odd one out by turp182 · · Score: 1

      It's a United States thing. I live there.

      Europe has realized that sex isn't a bad thing, in fact, it's what keeps our species going.

      The Right is afraid of sex for puritan purposes. The Left is afraid of sex because they aren't sure what gender they are. The rest of us just don't want to get sued for harassment.

      There needs to be another direction, maybe Front, rather than Left or Right. I wouldn't recommend Behind.......

      --
      BlameBillCosby.com
    4. Re:sex is the odd one out by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      The Left doesn't have gender problems. You know your own gender, and don't need to know everybody else's. The ones obsessed with the relation of gender to crotch danglies are on the Right.

      The Left is mostly split on exploitation of women vs. free choices of women. Where that comes together strongest is sex and especially porn and sex work. It's uncomfortable. Does that woman really want to perform that sex act, or is it expected of her, or something the patriarchy decided she should do? Here's a picture of a naked woman, who was paid to be the model. Is that exploitation, or male expectations, or is she just comfortable with showing off for money?

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    5. Re:sex is the odd one out by Tom · · Score: 1

      Let me guess, you are American?

      "date rape" is an american term. Most Europeans won't know what it means.
      Preying on teenagers - the main culprit is the catholic church. Everyone else agrees that such people need to be locked up.
      The laws about non-consensual sex are more strict in most European nations than anywhere else in the world. That is how they silences Assange - because in Sweden (which is in Europe, for my geographically challenged american friends) these laws are especially strong and even if you fucked two hours ago consensually, you can't assume the consensus still exists.

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
  36. Real life intrudes by Archfeld · · Score: 1

    People whining about censorship. In this case you'd get people whining about the lack of censorship. I need someone else to ensure I don't see anything which might be ugly or disagree with my worldview. I wonder how soon before some one sues Caltrans for there be an accident on the freeway. Not in the sense of there being an accident but that they had to witness the 'horror' and tragedy of real life and were forever damaged because of it...

    --
    errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
  37. Haven't banned everything yet by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    Looks like we can still have subreddits for child pornography!

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    1. Re:Haven't banned everything yet by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      You're a bit late to the party, Reddit swung the banhammer on those a long time ago.

      --
      Eat the rich.
  38. Re:No worries. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Kinda how pedophilia, incest, welfare collection, and crying about left wingers has so much overlap as well?

  39. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by tlhIngan · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I think the problem is, the government is letting shootings slide. I mean, earlier this week was another one, much smaller but still, it happened.

    When there was a democrat in the house, he could say grand things, knowing that Congress would never approve it. But at least He Was Doing Something About It. He managed to work both sides quite well - make the big evil Republicans the reason he can't pass anything, and at the same time, gun owners were nervous, so every time they'd buy more guns, simulating the economy more.

    Now that the entire government is republican controlled, there is no more excuse. Trump can't say he can't do anything about it because Congress won't let him, and everyone knows he loves his executive orders and he's famous for his Get Things Done attitude.

    Problem is, he didn't. He made some noise about it, and let it peter it. Then it happened again. And people are at their breaking point. Businesses see that, they realize that it isn't business as usual and they need to Do Something to appeal to the silent majority who do want some form of dun control. (I believe the stats have it around 75% or more. It seems less, but the NRA has a whole pile of money they spend buying politicians and in fact, if one wavers in their support, all that money suddenly goes to their opponent.

    The political climate has shifted, and businesses are simply stepping into the vacuum, realizing that while the NRA business is nice, it's not actually necessary, and they get a nice PR boost from being seen as Doing Something.

    As long as mass shootings keep continuing to happen (and there's no indication it's going to stop), this is going to get worse. As long as the guy in the White House does everything else other than be seen doing something about the issue, companies are going to reconsider their support. The irony is, the NRA may have one the battle (Trump does nothing), but they might lose the war (popular opinion turns against gun owners, even being brandished as idiots of a barbaric age).

    As long as kids are dying in the streets, no amount of tariffs or trade wars matter.

  40. Re: The last few days have been strangely coordina by Reverend+Green · · Score: 1

    The banking system is an important tool for the regime to oppress the people.

  41. Re: The last few days have been strangely coordina by Reverend+Green · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Disarm the common people! Down with freedom and democracy! The Social Justice reich shall last a thousand years!

  42. Re: It's just.... by Reverend+Green · · Score: 1

    Fake-progressive running dogs sure do love authoritarian capitalism.

  43. Reddit by Reverend+Green · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Reddit - come for the bigoted elitists lecturing everyone about their moral superiority - stay for the censorship!

    1. Re:Reddit by dreamchaser · · Score: 1

      Reddit has been a piece of shit for years. I just go there for funny cat pictures anymore. The self important buffoons aren't worth discussing anything with.

  44. Not dead! by antdude · · Score: 1

    It's still alive, but not popular as before. :)

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  45. Re: The last few days have been strangely coordina by pots · · Score: 2

    Yes, probably. That bill is specifically about prostitution, but it mandates review and censorship of user-submitted content. So since these companies are implementing those processes anyway, they're likely trying to fend off further regulation by getting ahead of the censorship curve.

    The fact that they're targeting guns isn't really surprising, that most recent Florida shooting is still a pretty hot topic.

  46. FOSTA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Before all the alt-right Nazis go blaming liberal companies blah blah blah - someone should mention the Republican Congress passage of FOSTA. The bill makes it so that website owners can be held liable for posts of their users. Right now it is supposed to specifically target sex trafficking but broad language in the bill and the likelihood of increasing liability is making a lot of companies panic.

  47. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It's due to the passage of FOSTA and the current US regimes increasing attempts at restricting web content.

  48. Re: "Reddit has been something of a Wild West..." by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

    Alas, given that some people consider the Second Amendment to be "crazy and offensive", it's pretty much impossible to avoid the label.

    Major strawman alert.

    It is only an extremely small fringe who consider the second amendment to be "crazy and offensive". The rest may think it is a bit outdated or may question the interpretation, but that is absolutely not the same.

    --
    Eat the rich.
  49. Re: "Reddit has been something of a Wild West..." by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

    ANTIFA, anyone? How offensive is that? ...wearing masks and attacking people because they can't stand to hear what they don't like. That my friend is fringe.

    Antifa numbers a few thousand people worldwide. It is a *very* small fringe.

    Also false equivalency, how many people have antifa killed? How many people have they taken freedom from?

    --
    Eat the rich.
  50. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by Kokuyo · · Score: 2

    No, they probably have the same percentage of shitty individuals as any other loosely grouped mass of people.

    If you look into a subculture long enough, you'll always be able to collect a shitton of asshattery, especially if you're not constrained by such thungs as context.

    Fake news everywhere ;).

  51. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by goose-incarnated · · Score: 3

    This is as close to a literal marketplace of ideas as we will ever get. The majority favour more gun controls now,

    The vocal minority do. As we've seen in all recent elections, your point of view is shared by a minority of the population.

    --
    I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
  52. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1, Troll

    The only thing anyone learned from gamergate is that a lot of gamers are really really shitty people.

    That's funny, the "magazines" had to backpedal to get their advertising back, so at least they've learned that spewing lies about gamers is not profitable. You'll note that they haven't tried to go down that route again. The anti-gamergaters have not had their views spread like prior to gamer gate.

    Don't get me wrong - I don't mind that the toxic SJW culture was given a pushback by the games journos - but I actually thought that they were slower learners and wouldn't change their stance on gamers that quick.

    --
    I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
  53. Re: "Reddit has been something of a Wild West..." by fafalone · · Score: 1

    Welp, time to get downmodded for pointing out when my own side makes terrible arguments again...
    Why do you consider the deaths of children to be a reasonable price to pay for you to drive your car fast instead of slow (limiting speed to, say, 25mph, would virtually end fatal vehicle collisions)? Thousands of kids a year are dying to get you that extra 35mph. Is it just because it's mostly by accident-- ok for kids to keep getting killed, as long as it's by accident? Like that should matter to someone arguing that kids dying supersedes any freedom interest right? You can't prevent all accidents. This is particularly on point since the number of kids killed in gun accidents is brought up all the time.

    I'm for reasonable control like universal background checks and mental health screening (VERY carefully considered, it's one hell of a slippery slope to define this in a way that catches the really dangerous ones but not the large majority of the population that's been on some ssri or benzo for anxiety/depression); but against terrible arguments. Not to mention you'd be really hard pressed to find someone that thinks people who are repeatedly reported to law enforcement for being extremely unstable and making violent threats (your "crazies") should still be allowed to buy guns.

  54. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by goose-incarnated · · Score: 3, Informative

    Businesses see that, they realize that it isn't business as usual and they need to Do Something to appeal to the silent majority who do want some form of dun control. (I believe the stats have it around 75% or more.

    The stats of those who want stricter gun control are around 10%. The 75% number are those who want "some" form of gun control and who were told that there are none at the moment. The 75% are quite happy with the existing gun-controls, only they don't know it is existing.

    --
    I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
  55. Likely caused by FOSTA by merlinokos · · Score: 2

    This appears to probably have been caused by FOSTA, which Congress recently passed. That's why it appears that many sites are coordinating these changes - the government is forcing them to by holding websites responsible for users undertaking illegal activities. More details can be found here:
    https://boingboing.net/2018/03/22/craigslist-personals-shut-down.html
    with some additional links to the Reddit announcement, and an EFF announcement of how Congress is censoring the internet.

  56. Driving people elsewhere by zomberi · · Score: 1

    These Reedit communities will move to 4chan just as some gun video channels are moving bornhup.

  57. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by pipingguy · · Score: 1

    Could be activist board members serving on boards of different companies.

  58. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by argStyopa · · Score: 2

    "As long as kids are dying in the streets, no amount of tariffs or trade wars matter."

    Except...it's not that bad, and getting better.
    1) violent crime is continuing a decades-long trend of decrease
    2) gun homicides have dropped by 1/3 (!) since a high in the early 1990s, from 18000 to about 13000.
    3) https://news.northeastern.edu/... shows that school shootings are down 75-80% in that same span.

    By *any* objective measure, gun violence is decreasing significantly. We should be celebrating.wildly at the improvement.

    (It's worth noting that both of these numbers have decreased simultaneous with the largest increases in private gun ownership in US history. I'm not asserting causality - I believe the violent crime decline is probably due more to easily available abortions - but certainly it disproves the superficial point that guns cause violence.)

    (And as far as your "it's all Republicans, they have no excuse"...erm, they couldn't kill Obamacare despite basically running solely and universally on that platform for the last what, 6 years? I don't think you get how government works.)

    --
    -Styopa
  59. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by Cederic · · Score: 1

    Umm. Why?

    Why the fuck do you care whether someone thinks they're a gamer or not? What makes them scum? Why are you advocating painful murder of them?

    Sounds like a scummy attitude to me.

  60. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by Cederic · · Score: 1

    Hmm. I play computer games, so by simple definition I must be a gamer. Why the fuck do you think that's my identity though?

    Me, I judge people by their actions. Yours are scummy.

  61. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by quanminoan · · Score: 1

    Also Craigslist just dropped the personals according to CNN.

  62. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

    No, it's an actual majority.

    http://news.gallup.com/poll/16...

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  63. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

    No, it's an actual majority. http://news.gallup.com/poll/16...

    You should read your own link, the clear majority feel they would be safer if more people carried guns.

    --
    I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
  64. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

    You should read that link. The clear majority favour stricter controls on gun ownership.

    --
    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
    SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  65. And today, China banned satire. by gestalt_n_pepper · · Score: 1

    We're next. The velvet gloves of governments are off. Democracy is out. Fascism is in. The vote in congress was essentially bipartisan.

    --
    Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
  66. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

    You should read that link. The clear majority favour stricter controls on gun ownership.

    Like I already said elsewhere, you can get people to ask for stricter gun controls only by omitting the fact that there are already gun controls, which is what these questions asked.

    When respondents are under the impression that anyone can buy a gun, they will want stricter gun controls. When they are informed that the controls they want are already in place they don't ask for more gun controls. The questions in the poll you link are clearly leading, and omit the fact that the "strict gun controls" are already in place; this is not made clear to the respondents. For example:

    (Asked of those dissatisfied with U.S. gun policy) Would you like to see gun laws in this country made more strict, less strict, or remain as they are?

    Only 46% replied in the affirmative, even though the question doesn't specify what gun controls are in place currently (will vary anyway). By no stretch of the imagination is 46% a majority.

    You really should read your own damn references:

    Do you think having a gun in the house makes it -- [ROTATED: a safer place to be (or) a more dangerous place to be]?

    With 63% answering "safer".

    If more Americans carried concealed weapons, would the United States be safer or less safe?

    With 56% answering "safer".

    The majority of the responses indicate that they feel safer owning weapons.

    But, tell you what - you're so sure that the majority agree with your views on gun control, so here's what you do - get a politician to back your views as their main talking points for the next election, and lets see how the majority really feel about his stance on gun control.

    All the posturing and polling in the world falls apart when people actually get to vote on an issue - remember the last election when you were so sure that the majority of the world was sexist purely because they did not support a Clinton? Remember all those polls that showed your preferred candidate ahead, a sure thing?

    Yeah, turned out your view was a lot more marginal than you thought. I don't know why you think your point of view is now shared by more people. If they aren't voting in favour of it you should accept the fact that your views are, in general, reprehensible. While your echo chamber tolerates your whining, others simply ignore you and vote the way they want to.

    Be honest - the only way to get your way is to subvert the will of the majority. If you ask them to vote on it they aren't going to vote your way, so you have to force your views on them via new laws.

    If your views were reasonable you would get your way simply by presenting a candidate that campaigned on the strength of your ideology. Until you do, you're a fringe minority, widely regarded as a lunatic by the rest of us.

    Remember all the doom and gloom you predicted for Brexit because of all those "racists" who voted for autonomy? THe fact that you aren't even a little bit surprised at the lack of your predictive power should tell you tons about how insular your worldview is. You have seen so little of people and cultures that all you know is the little ideologue that is your little circle. The rest of the world doesn't actually give a fuck about the things you think they should.

    --
    I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
  67. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    Hard to tell without knowing why they made the decisions. Was it to make advertisers feel better? That could affect a large number of sites at once.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  68. Re: The last few days have been strangely coordina by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    You do realize that private gun ownership has approximately nothing to do with freedom and democracy, right?

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  69. Re:It's just.... by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    There's a very important consideration here. How much money do anti-gun snowflakes have or control? This was very likely a business decision made to make more money.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  70. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by CanHasDIY · · Score: 2

    ...but the NRA has a whole pile of money they spend buying politicians and in fact, if one wavers in their support, all that money suddenly goes to their opponent.

    It seems that way, because you're basing that opinion on your pre-existing beliefs and not facts.

    Here's a list of the top 50 organizational donors to US political campaigns - guess who didn't make it?

    Here's another list of the top 50 organizational donors to all federal contributions, not just campaigns - guess who's still not on the list?

    Here's a list of the top 75 corporate sponsors of legislation - again, the NRA is nowhere to be found.

    You have a choice here - learn that you were incorrect, accept it, and correct yourself, or double-down on the ignorance. Your call, but I know which decision I'd make.

    --
    An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
  71. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

    DILLIGAF?

    --
    Eat the rich.
  72. Re: The last few days have been strangely coordina by Outta_the_way_peck! · · Score: 1

    How many of your kids got shot? None? Exactly. So stop whining SJW style about how you need to take away other's rights.

    I would assume they are trying to keep it that way.

  73. Re:The last few days have been strangely coordinat by Straif · · Score: 1

    The majority favour more gun controls now, and Citi is following the market to maximise profitability.

    For a poorly defined definition of "more gun control". Most of the forms of gun control that the majority want are actually already covered by laws on the books or have limited resistance even from gun 'nuts'. The problem is that anti-gun fanatics take those proposals and add outright bans and other changes that very few people agree with and lump them all together to conflate the issue or simply make things up to try and make things appear worse than they are.

    For example:
    - Close the gun show loophole: There is no real gun show loophole. It's merely adding a location to the fact that most private sales do not require background checks (mostly because there is almost no way to actual enforce that system if implemented). It may as well be called the "My backyard loophole" or "McDonald's Parking lot" loophole. In fact any seller who actually sells enough guns to be considered a business (in some cases that number can be as low as 1) has to be registered as a dealer or go through a dealer to sell their weapons and thereby perform the federally mandated background checks regardless of their location. The vast majority of weapons sold at gun shows are through federally licensed firearms dealers.

    - Ban assault weapons: Assault weapons aren't a thing. Assault rifles such as the M-16 are, but assault weapons are merely cosmetic features added to normal weapons. The AR-15, for example, is just a normal, usually low calibre, semi-automatic rifle that is popular simply because it's very modular and easily customizable for comfort and convenience. Almost none of the customizations added to the weapons actually make it any deadlier and a bullet fired from one of these "assault weapons" behaves exactly the same as one fired from a 'normal' hunting rifle.
    The one clear exception, which is also a mod available for several other rifles, is the bump stock. This is one mod that, although technically legal, does make it easier to make a semi-auto near identical to a full auto at the sacrifice of accuracy. Bans or at least tighter regulation of bump stocks does have relatively strong support.

    - Increase purchase age to 21: What other constitutional right has an age requirement above and beyond reaching the recognized age of majority? Should you not be able to vote until you are 30? How about no protected speech until your 40's? Like it or not the right to bear arms is a recognized individual right and as such "shall not be infringed". People like to use the drinking age as a prime example of setting a legal requirement above 18 but drinking is not a recognized constitutional right. This one is one of the most ironic of the current protestors demands because, being primarily high school students, they are essentially demanding a restriction of their rights because they don't consider themselves mature enough to handle the responsibility of gun ownership while at the same time demanding the re-writing of American law to their preference.

    - Strengthening background checks: This is often linked to the 'loophole' from above but also to such things are preventing criminals or unfit people from purchasing weapons. The problem here is that this is already the law and as has been the case in several of the last few mass shootings the failure wasn't in the background check but in the people responsible from entering the data (forgetting to submit a court martial for spouse abuse or failure to record direct threats). Not even the deepest background check will succeed if the people responsible for updating the linked systems fail to do their jobs.

    - My favorite is the call to ban "high velocity rounds": This has been called for directly by the March for Our Lives kids and their supporters but is based entirely off of not having the least bit of understanding of how guns work. Almost any round fired from a rifle is 'high velocity' compared to a hand gun; it's si

    --
    Of course that's just my opinion...... you could be wrong!
  74. Re: The last few days have been strangely coordin by Reverend+Green · · Score: 1

    Hahahahahaha

  75. Re: The last few days have been strangely coordina by NeoTubNinja · · Score: 1

    It's always the overly emotional people who post anonymously, isn't it?

  76. Back to Forums by walllaby · · Score: 1

    Last time I checked, there wasn't anything stopping someone from creating their own website and running BuddyPress/BBpress/vBulletin to voice their opinions with other like-minded individuals.

    There was an internet before Facebook/Reddit/YouTube, people. You wanna play in their yard, you gotta play by their rules. Otherwise go buy your own damn house.

  77. Re: "Reddit has been something of a Wild West..." by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 1

    Because as a car owner I don't object to federally mandated laws governing seatbelts, airbags, bumpers, headlights, horns, crumple zones and hundreds of other rules that apply to cars. As a car owner I don't object to vehicle registration and driver testing and licensing.

  78. Re: The last few days have been strangely coordin by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    Ah, logic. Gotta love it.

    There are plenty of countries that restrict private gun ownership pretty severely and are free democracies (more democratic than the US currently is). Right now, the party that's against gun control is doing its level best to destroy democracy and set up permanent one-party rule, along with restriction of rights for anyone who isn't a white Christian man.

    If you're thinking about a gun-owner revolt, forget about it. If the country gets into such bad shape that it's thinkable, what will decide the issue is what the United States Armed Forces do. Any possible influence armed civilians would have is at best a rounding error.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  79. Re: The last few days have been strangely coordin by Reverend+Green · · Score: 1

    Are you on crack?

  80. Re: The last few days have been strangely coordin by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    I don't use illegal drugs. I tried marijuana once, and didn't like it. I don't drink alcohol or smoke, and I'm almost completely off caffeine. What you see is how I naturally think. How you view that is your problem.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes