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by gdix 2791 days ago
> though it may have some unintended consequences that have not been fully understood yet.

I think no one disagrees that it "works" insofar as it stops the bad person from getting their bad ideas out there. Opponents of deplatforming generally argue that the long-term reaction to the deplatforming is worse than the problem the bad person's ideas were causing. Better to counter the bad ideas with good ideas to do long term good.

3 comments

"Opponents of deplatforming generally argue that the long-term reaction to the deplatforming is worse than the problem the bad person's ideas were causing."

Not just that the reaction is worse, that the deplatforming erodes the spirit of free speech. I believe free speech is an important part of democracy.

Even apart from the Streisand effect, conspiring to suppress crappy ideas gives them undeserved credibility. "They didn't want you to hear this."
That's a reasonable concern and may even be true for some instances, but in the case of Milo Yiannopoulos for example, he practically just went away. Milo himself says he spent all of his savings and lost his friends. Even his most ardent fans stopped speaking out about him.

Nobody is listening to his ideas enough to give them underserved credibility.

How do you define "bad" person? Ungood? Doubleplus ungood?
The last one. Doubleplus ungood.