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If your objective is to stop neofascism from spreading what is going to be more effective
a. Remove them from major platforms and prosecute in extreme cases, severely limiting their ability to recruit, disseminate and organise
b. Just kinda let them do their thing in the open so we know who they are
We are currently at option b for the most part and it isn't working. YouTube is particularly bad for it, the comment sections are full of literal nazis and their algorithm constantly recommends alt-right propaganda no matter what your viewing history is. Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens have each been cited as inspirations in the manifestos of separate mass murderers. How much more white supremacist violence will it take before we accept that the current laissez-faire approach is not working?
You're right, of course, that criminalising the symptoms doesn't eliminate the hatred. But until we can address the more complicated underlying societal issues it seems obvious to me that quarantining it is preferable to doing fuck all.
Drano-
I agree, for too long people have let others spout shit on the internet and not called them out. They need telling they're wrong or they'll never learn.
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We are currently at option b for the most part and it isn't working
You're mixing up private companies' and the State's roles imo.
It would be worth your while looking at the current legislation here and in Scotland. We have laws that deal with this. Policing them is the challenge.
I also genuinely think that you seriously underestimate how much the dictatorial line on controlling speach line backfires and plays into right and small-c conservative naratives of the left.
Sumo
hugo7
With regards to a 'citation' my statement was very literal, I'm really not sure either way and would be happy to see evidence either way as I really don't have a strong standpoint on the matter.
With regards to the second point. That's kind of my point, you can change the laws and people carry on having abhorrent views but before they'd just come out and say their hateful shite so it was always clear who they were, now you have to really dig deep to work out who's who.
And you're not going to change their minds by changing the law on what they can and can't say