Over the last few days, there's been a lot of discussion about kiwifarms being taken offline by Cloudflare. As is expected from HN, the average response was one appalled by the apparent free speech violation, and a general concern for the precedent being set.
While I understand the sentiment, and have thought the same in the past ( with Aaron Swartz or Chelsea Manning); I want to pose an alternative question: What's the precedence set by continuing to do business with kiwifarms?
Over the last few days there's been a lot I've wanted to say, but I felt like I couldn't speak. I've been on HN for the better part of a decade, but I can't say anything as myself. Instead I need to use a throwaway account and only connect over a VPN, because I'm a trans woman talking about kiwifarms.
I've seen how dangerous it can be for a trans woman to stick her head up. I've watched friends and strangers alike be harassed, attacked, SWAT'd, and doxxed. Not public figures (though they don't deserve death threats either), just regular trans people trying to live their lives and speak their experiences.
I no longer feel like I can speak up, for fear of illegal reprisals. Why should they be allowed to infringe on my rights? Why should I have to hide?
Cloudflair's decision to stop doing business with kiwifarms is a step towards free speech, not away.
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If you're afraid to speak up, then that's just consequence culture working as intended sweetie
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Seriously, where do these people get off acting like they haven't been advocating a culture-wide chilling effect on contentious speech by public shaming, snitching, harassing, leaking private conversations, etc. Trans people especially have been working overtime (and often for free) to make sure people convicted of wrongthink get lynched.
Kiwifarms hasn't killed, swatted, hacked, or threatened anybody but that doesn't stop this person from putting on a histrionic tantrum to try to drum up support for shutting down the chud site. "I no longer feel like I can speak up" or what, the women on that site will make fun of how poorly you dress and apply makeup? Give me a break.
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pretty impressive that a black woman (the apex of oppression) invented the microscope, meanwhile i (obese white man with an IQ of 4, pooping and pissing in a diaper) cannot even invent gf
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lol i thought you said apes of oppression
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also isnt this kind of contradicting their point that free speech isnt freedom from consequences?
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It was always a stupid position. Literally all freedoms are measured by "freedom from consequences," otherwise just do something and accept the consequences.
"Ah," my fake opponent replies, "I only mean freedom from legal consequences."
Still a stupid position because the same people who argue that "free speech means no government consequences" then advocate for government meddling in company affairs, often through threat of regulation.
What's gigabrained stupid, though, is that the people spouting that position on free speech care endlessly about de facto effects elsewhere, like racially, gender-wise, etc. The fact that the government doesn't directly and legally discriminate is cold comfort when society wants other things.
Free speech is freedom from a substantial proportion of public and private consequences. WTF is free speech supposed to be if the only consequence you avoid is jail?
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In the ideal blockclerk system, you could just hold a vote and kick out any bigot spouting hate speech on your block.
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If there's a war against you, and you are unaware, you've already lost.
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It’s about power. That’s it.
Lying about it works to further that power.
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It's a characteristic of psychopaths to have control over people.
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They have slaughtered thousands, they even have killcounts in their profiles!!!
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Now I'm as seig heil-y as the next aryan, but I think you've been done wrong by people with poor reading comprehension.
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And don't forget all the heckin' cute and valid
rinos they r*ped!
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more transwomen (male) than transmen (female) tho
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I think you're stretching.
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Based Idi Amin's thought follower
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Freedom of speech is not freedom of consequence. In fact, it’s censorship that’s been freeing them from the consequences of their actions.
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Freedom is, when you think about it, in a way, it's slavery.
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Also, freedom is slavery to individual will.
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I've been perma'd from reddit and twitter. I catch 30 day "time outs" regularly from facebook. I care about and exercise free speech often.
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L ove you zchiggy
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