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Is Boards.ie a "safe space"?

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  • 10-06-2015 10:48pm
    #1
    jonnypacket
    Closed Accounts Posts: 65 ✭✭


    Over on Reddit, new "safe-space" rules went into effect a few hours ago. A number of popular subreddits have already been shutdown solely for the reason of protecting people's feelings. Some of the banned subreddits include
    /r/fatpeoplehate
    /r/HamPlanetHatred
    /r/transfags

    The internet highly values freedom of speech and the free market of ideas so naturally it is going crazy over these new censorship rules. The top three posts on /r/all currently are complaints over the censorship. A worrying trend has developed over the past few years where the internet is drifting towards the liberal-fascist end of the spectrum and echo chambers of over-sensitive, whiny feminists are calling the shots. Are fat people immune to criticism now?

    Is Boards a "safe space" where you are guaranteed to never encounter ideas contrary to your own or (heaven forbid) get offended?


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Comments

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    #2
    Little CuChulainn
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,624 ✭✭✭Little CuChulainn


    Those subreddits were not simply full of disgusting people, they sought out and harassed people both on and off reddit. You can be fairly sure that they would meet a similar fate here.


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    #3
    Ruu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,622 ✭✭✭Ruu


    No we have a 'Hate jonnypacket' forum, sorry 'bout that.


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    #4
    Cienciano
    Registered Users Posts: 14,233 ✭✭✭✭Cienciano


    They could do with getting rid of r/theredpill too.


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    #5
    GJAerLingus
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 51 ✭✭GJAerLingus


    I personally don`t find any part of the internet a safe place. People are completely different behind their keyboards to how you encounter them on a real life basis. The internet has clearly escalated since its introduction where it takes over, destroys and transforms some people.


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    #6
    jonnypacket
    Closed Accounts Posts: 65 ✭✭jonnypacket


    Little CuChulainn wrote: »
    Those subreddits were not simply full of disgusting people, they sought out and harassed people both on and off reddit. You can be fairly sure that they would meet a similar fate here.

    Leftists thugs regularly disrupt UKIP meetings and shout down the speakers in an attempt to silence them. BNP members are physically and verbally harassed on a daily basis. Remember the circus surrounding Nick Griffin's appearance on a BBC panel show? Mobs of keffiyeh-clad yobs hurled eggs and abuse at him to prevent him entering the building. These actions seem to garner applause amongst Boards users. Strange that.


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    #7
    Carlos Orange
    Registered Users Posts: 2,499 ✭✭✭Carlos Orange


    GJAerLingus wrote: »
    I personally don`t find any part of the internet a safe place. People are completely different behind their keyboards to how you encounter them on a real life basis. The internet has clearly escalated since its introduction where it takes over, destroys and transforms some people.

    When was the last time someone was physically hurt on the internet?


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    #8
    NotCominBack
    Closed Accounts Posts: 456 ✭✭NotCominBack


    psinno wrote: »
    When was the last time someone was physically hurt on the internet?

    I nearly choked on my coffee reading a post once


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    #9
    RDM_83 again
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,116 ✭✭✭RDM_83 again


    Confused about how to feel about this, I don't like have a huge fondness for censorship and I really despise the hypocrisy of the proclaiming to be enlightened and then pushing controls on what is acceptable but AFAIK some of those Reddit's were close to criminal.


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    #10
    GJAerLingus
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 51 ✭✭GJAerLingus


    psinno wrote: »
    When was the last time someone was physically hurt on the internet?

    I`m not talking about the physical aspect I`m talking about it from a mental point of view. Just think of the amount of suicides etc... that have happened due to online activity.


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    #11
    Little CuChulainn
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,624 ✭✭✭Little CuChulainn


    jonnypacket wrote: »
    Leftists thugs regularly disrupt UKIP meetings and shout down the speakers in an attempt to silence them. BNP members are physically and verbally harassed on a daily basis. Remember the circus surrounding Nick Griffin's appearance on a BBC panel show? Mobs of keffiyeh-clad yobs hurled eggs and abuse at him to prevent him entering the building. These actions seem to garner applause amongst Boards users. Strange that.

    Why is it strange?


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    #12
    moc moc a moc
    Registered Users Posts: 1,299 ✭✭✭moc moc a moc


    Here's a mad idea, Ted: if people don't want to get offended, maybe they should simply not visit forums named 'fatpeoplehate', 'HamPlanetHatred' or 'transfags'.


  • Options
    #13
    Arsemageddon
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,129 ✭✭✭Arsemageddon


    jonnypacket wrote: »
    The internet highly values freedom of speech and the free market of ideas so naturally it is going crazy over these new censorship rules

    Eh, the internet is not a sentient being (yet).

    Boards.ie is interesting because it attracts posters with diverse opinions who interact with each other.

    I'm sure if you wanted to you could find a specialist forum/echo chamber that allows you to unleash your fearless internet warrior skills safe in the knowledge that you don't have to be accountable in any way.


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    #14
    jonnypacket
    Closed Accounts Posts: 65 ✭✭jonnypacket


    RDM_83 again wrote: »
    Confused about how to feel about this, I don't like have a huge fondness for censorship and I really despise the hypocrisy of the proclaiming to be enlightened and then pushing controls on what is acceptable but AFAIK some of those Reddit's were close to criminal.

    The decision was made from a business standpoint. Advertisers don't want to be associated with a website that hosts subreddits like /r/fatpeoplehate. Money wins over free speech apparently. A bit like how Boards got rid of the Thunderdome. Slowly killing away the last remnants of the community spirit around here.
    GJAerLingus wrote: »
    I`m not talking about the physical aspect I`m talking about it from a mental point of view. Just think of the amount of suicides etc... that have happened due to online activity.

    Give us some stats then. How many people killed themselves in 2014 because someone disagreed with them online?


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    #15
    Little CuChulainn
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,624 ✭✭✭Little CuChulainn


    moc moc a moc wrote: »
    Here's a mad idea, Ted: if people don't want to get offended, maybe they should simply not visit forums named 'fatpeoplehate', 'HamPlanetHatred' or 'transfags'.

    Which would be fine if they kept to themselves. But they didn't. They constantly brigaded people and posts, targeted subs associated in any way with fat people (even ones about dieting and exercise), and caused issues with other websites important to Reddit. They signed their own death warrant with their need for recognition.


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    #16
    Stheno
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 51,687 Mod ✭✭✭✭Stheno


    psinno wrote: »
    When was the last time someone was physically hurt on the internet?

    Plenty of people have committed suicide due to internet abuse.

    Personally I like boards, I find the moderators give a nice balance, and I interact with posters who I sometimes strongly disagree with, but the level of debate can be good.

    Then you've the hardliners who refuse to deviate from their line, who you just ignore


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    #17
    Mr_Muffin
    Registered Users Posts: 917 ✭✭✭Mr_Muffin


    There are great posters on Boards (such as myself) and then there are people who just should not post at all (Everyone else).


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    #18
    orubiru
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,290 ✭✭✭orubiru


    GJAerLingus wrote: »
    I personally don`t find any part of the internet a safe place. People are completely different behind their keyboards to how you encounter them on a real life basis. The internet has clearly escalated since its introduction where it takes over, destroys and transforms some people.

    This is exactly how I feel. If things escalate into actual physical assaults in real life or anything that disrupts a persons actual life away from the internet then that is where the line needs to be drawn and the authorities need to take action.

    I'd be real embarrassed if I got upset by a twitter message that said "I hope you die fatty" and it then turned out that it was sent by some 13 year old kid using a school computer.

    The fact that most internet users are anonymous and maybe not even in the same country as you should result in not taking their comments TOO seriously. Sure, go ahead and write up super long posts or play "devils advocate" in a debate but do it because you enjoy it.

    Becoming emotionally invested in the words of people who may just be trolls is not healthy and it cant end well.


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    #19
    Turtyturd
    Registered Users Posts: 28,395 ✭✭✭✭Turtyturd


    Yes, it's why boards users register on reddit to carry out their abuse.


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    #20
    NotCominBack
    Closed Accounts Posts: 456 ✭✭NotCominBack


    moc moc a moc wrote: »
    Here's a mad idea, Ted: if people don't want to get offended, maybe they should simply not visit forums named 'fatpeoplehate', 'HamPlanetHatred' or 'transfags'.

    Is that really for people who hate Ham? Or am I being ignorant here?


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    #21
    jonnypacket
    Closed Accounts Posts: 65 ✭✭jonnypacket


    Little CuChulainn wrote: »
    Which would be fine if they kept to themselves. But they didn't. They constantly brigaded people and posts, targeted subs associated in any way with fat people (even ones about dieting and exercise), and caused issues with other websites important to Reddit. They signed their own death warrant with their need for recognition.

    Banning the subreddit won't make the people who hold those opinions disappear. They will simply migrate to another subreddit and sh!tpost there instead. This is what the banhammer advocates and bootlickers fail to understand.


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    #22
    GJAerLingus
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 51 ✭✭GJAerLingus


    orubiru wrote: »
    This is exactly how I feel. If things escalate into actual physical assaults in real life or anything that disrupts a persons actual life away from the internet then that is where the line needs to be drawn and the authorities need to take action.

    I'd be real embarrassed if I got upset by a twitter message that said "I hope you die fatty" and it then turned out that it was sent by some 13 year old kid using a school computer.

    The fact that most internet users are anonymous and maybe not even in the same country as you should result in not taking their comments TOO seriously. Sure, go ahead and write up super long posts or play "devils advocate" in a debate but do it because you enjoy it.

    Becoming emotionally invested in the words of people who may just be trolls is not healthy and it cant end well.


    The anonymity is what causes it really.


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    #23
    diusmr8a504cvk
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,959 ✭✭✭diusmr8a504cvk


    Boards is quite dangerous. My friend Ms. O'Dwyer was robbed last week while browsing AH, they didn't take anything off her instead they actually stole her.


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    #24
    Pinch Flat
    Registered Users Posts: 7,761 ✭✭✭Pinch Flat


    I'm a cyclist who pays water charges. I feel perfectly safe on here


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    #25
    Pinch Flat
    Registered Users Posts: 7,761 ✭✭✭Pinch Flat


    Pinch Flat wrote: »
    I'm a cyclist who pays water charges. I feel perfectly safe on here

    Oh wait there's a baying mob with torches and pitch forks at my door. Scratch that


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    #26
    m5ex9oqjawdg2i
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,221 ✭✭✭✭m5ex9oqjawdg2i


    "Freedom of speech" and "freedom to be a cnut to people" are not the same thing and should not be treated as such. People are entitled to their opinion, but when that's turned to hatred, then I think the game changes...


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    #27
    Turtyturd
    Registered Users Posts: 28,395 ✭✭✭✭Turtyturd


    Pinch Flat wrote: »
    Oh wait there's a baying mob with torches and pitch forks at my door. Scratch that

    Cycle on the path to escape and don't stop at traffic lights.


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    #28
    orubiru
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,290 ✭✭✭orubiru


    GJAerLingus wrote: »
    The anonymity is what causes it really.

    Definitely. The abuse is the inevitable result of allowing people to say whatever they want without fear of suffering the consequences.

    I remember Yahoo Chat as a young, drunk, and stupid lad. All I did was be mean to people. I'm not proud of it but it was easy and it was a way to indulge in blatant offensive and insulting behaviour without getting my teeth kicked in.

    The correct way to deal with this is by educating people on how to deal with nasty comments or inappropriate behaviour that they encounter online.

    You will NEVER silence trolls and so if we find that people are committing suicide etc due to nasty comments on forums etc then we have to attack that on 2 fronts. First by better policing of the websites in question and secondly by teaching people how to cope when faced with trolling, bullying etc.


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    #29
    Cold War Kid
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,353 ✭✭✭Cold War Kid


    Reddit is a private company too - it doesn't have to accommodate these anti-social malcontents if it doesn't want to. "Free speech" doesn't come into this.

    Online bullying is still bullying - and can have terrible consequences. Stuff like "They shouldn't go online then" and "They should grow a thicker skin", while not always bad advice, is completely deflecting responsibility in the extreme cases. Not bullying would be a better idea.


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    #30
    Links234
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,944 ✭✭✭✭Links234


    Reddit has a few rules, they allow pretty much anything that isn't illegal, but if posters in one subreddit set out to harrass and brigade another sub or other people, then the admins take note. It's nothing to do with hurting peoples feelings or people getting offended, there's still plenty of absolutely abhorrent subreddits up and reddit's not been made a "safe space" by any stretch of the imagination.


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    #31
    endacl
    Registered Users Posts: 22,240 ✭✭✭✭endacl


    jonnypacket wrote: »
    Banning the subreddit won't make the people who hold those opinions disappear. They will simply migrate to another subreddit and sh!tpost there instead. This is what the banhammer advocates and bootlickers fail to understand.

    You seem quite grumpy in every thread you've posted in. Which of your favourite nasty subreddits but the dust?


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