Ravelry, a free social networking service dedicated to knitting, crocheting, and other yarn crafts, recently made a strong public stance against white supremacy in the form of a policy banning content in support of U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration.
Free Speech
Anti-semitism, racism and other old white supremacist prejudices die hard
Anti-semitism, racism and other prejudices are on the rise in most established democracies. Still, silencing white supremacists on the Internet is counterproductive. It would only lead to more senseless acts violence similar to those perpetrated by Anders Breivik and Rhodesia-inspired Dylann Roof.
How activists of color lose battles against Facebook’s moderator army
While Facebook professes a commitment to stopping hate, harassment and discrimination, the social media behemoth’s reporting policies and human moderators often punish users of color who speak out against racism or justifiably criticize white people.
Silencing white supremacists on the Internet breeds more racist violence
Silencing white supremacists on the Internet would only lead to white feelings of persecution, paranoia, white genocide conspiracy theories and acts violence similar to those recently perpetrated by Anders Breivik and Rhodesia-inspired Dylann Roof.
Free expression at universities gagged by anti-Trump backlash
Ryerson University suppressed free speech rights when it cancelled a planned panel discussion featuring conservative academics and former Rebel Media journalist Faith Goldy, argues James Turk, the director of the Centre for Free Expression at Ryerson.
Facebook’s Secret Censorship Rules Protect White Men from Hate Speech But Not Black Children
Internal Facebook documents reviewed by ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom, reveal that the social media behemoth’s censors often condone hate speech by white men but punish racialized minorities and activist groups for legitimate political expression.
For-Profit AT&T Spying Program is Worse Than Snowden Revelations
Telecommunications giant AT&T’s spying on Americans for profit on behalf of law enforcement agencies is “more terrifying than the illegal NSA surveillance programs that Edward Snowden exposed,” says rights group Fight for the Future.
WTF? Yahoo spied on email customers for U.S. government
Yahoo secretly scanned all of its customer’s incoming emails in response to directives from the NSA and FBI. “This is a clear sign that people can trust neither their government nor their service providers to respect their privacy.”