Should I join "free speech" alternatives?

Hello! I've been searching for a reddit alternative, and yes, I've picked Lemmy and Raddle, but here's the thing. My morbid curiosity is perked up, and a part of me wants to join the "free speech" alternatives, like Saidit, Poal, etc. What's wrong with me that I want to join toxic places? I mean, yes I'll find a whole new perspective (albeit wrong), on political topics, but a part of me wants to be the antagonist, and post lefty memes, and music with a left-leaning message (bands from r/rabm) I know that's like kicking the hornet's nest, so you don't need to start in with "that's a bad idea" I know it is. My main point/question is, is it wrong to join a site with potential hate speech? Does it make someone a bad person?

Fizz ,
@Fizz@lemmy.nz avatar

You can if you want. You'll certainly find new perspectives however you will be unlikely to get any good discussion. If you go there to antagonize they will simply ban you as they don't want lefty memes or left leaning messages.

I don't think being on the same platform as hate speech makes you a bad person. You're only wasting your time and exposing your self to needless hate and toxicity.

CyberSyndicalist ,
@CyberSyndicalist@hexbear.net avatar

They are not really "free speech" sites, they are fascist sites. They will use your left wing posts as rhetorical proof of their openness until such a time that your antagonism gains any traction at which point they will promptly censor you as they do not really have any ideals. The game is rigged, post on a fascist site and you will be a tool for fascism.

Lemmy was built explicitly in recognition of this fact for the master's tool will never dismantle the master's house.

kava ,

If you know who you are and what you believe in then you should have no fear like others are saying. Go wherever you want and talk to whoever you want. I used to regularly post on /r/debatefascism before it got banned on reddit. I was disappointed when it got banned.

When you argue with someone online, you'll never change their opinion.. but you may sway some random lurker just browsing through.

I understand that a lot of the far right use "free speech" as essentially a dog whistle- but freedom of expression in my opinion is a vital part of a free society. That doesn't mean private places like Lemmy instances have any obligation to follow free speech. But I do support and respect places that do.

Omega_Haxors ,

Places that advertise themselves as being free speech

  • Expectation: You are free to say whatever you please
  • Reality: Oops! All CSAM/racism and they ban on a hair
sorrybookbroke ,
@sorrybookbroke@sh.itjust.works avatar

Good luck man, you're about to learn how easy it is to get banned on those free speech alternatives. Still funny though.

Be careful however. No matter what, you're still just a brain in a flesh jar. You are susceptible to false information and lies as your brain can't really differentiate between false and correct info that well.

You are not immune to propaganda

howrar ,

Be careful however. No matter what, you're still just a brain in a flesh jar. You are susceptible to false information and lies as your brain can't really differentiate between false and correct info that well.

You are not immune to propaganda

I never understood this argument. How is it any different for leftist propaganda? This just feels like telling someone to stop thinking because you're on our team now and we want to make sure you don't leave.

lemmyreader ,

I never understood this argument. How is it any different for leftist propaganda? This just feels like telling someone to stop thinking because you’re on our team now and we want to make sure you don’t leave.

Your argument seems to suggest :

  • Listening to far right voices is not too bad if you keep being alert.
  • The brain of the listener who thinks for themselves will be strong enough to distinguish leftist propaganda and lies from facts and truth.

I fear, looking at the millions of people who are not well informed about some things (say privacy + GAFAM), that this is wishful thinking. Remember the experiment with people in the cinemas where some soft-drink images were almost invisible merged into the movie and made people thirsty and buy more drinks during the break ? In my opinion the human brain is unfortunately not as powerful as people make it believe it is. And I have no big issues in general with leftist propaganda as I'd like to see the planet saved rather than destroyed.

sorrybookbroke , (edited )
@sorrybookbroke@sh.itjust.works avatar

How is this different than leftist propaganda?

It's not. In no way, shape, and or form. Once more, you are not immune to propaganda.

Again, I'm not stating you shouldn't seek out people who disagree with you, I seek these people out often, but you need to understand what your brain will do.

You should generally be cognizant of bias and the fact that you will, inevitably, accept without confirmation some information or internalize information you've confirmed incorrect. This is not only true to one group, and is just as true for those under the umbrella of "leftist" as much as under the term "alt right".

I will state it's less dangerous to be less cautious here than a free speach absolutist community. Here, we value truth. There, they value all speach even objectively false. Here, you'll see false info removed there, definitionally, or is not.

Lastly, for fascism, death of truth is a defining reality. To paraphrase Mussolini let not truth stand on a pillar except insomuch as it assists in our goals. In the places where absolutist freedom of speach reigns fascists, famously very good propagandists, thrive. This is a danger above a left winger repeating false statistics around racism in the police force, or the rates of spousal abuse. Or even myself lying about that Mussolini quote at the beginning of this paragraph

Thank you for the responce however and the respectful tone you took, I hope I clarified>

howrar ,

So if I understand correctly, you're saying that

  1. you're more likely to be exposed to lies on a right wing forum compared to left wing forums
  2. the types of lies you're exposed to are more dangerous in a right wing community compared to the left.

So first of all, how do you determine that #1 is true? I've seen my fair share of misinformation on Lemmy and the left-leaning parts of Reddit getting highly upvoted and vice versa. But I'm basing this on what I personally know (and who knows if I'm right?) and in general, there isn't much objective info going around. It's mostly people sharing their sentiments on a topic with little to no factual information (e.g. "fuck [entity X]").

#2 also assumes that you're right to begin with and that sharing these false statistics would lead to a better world. Take false statistics on police racism for example. This can be a problem in many ways. Let's say hypothetically that there is no police racism, but we say there is and we convince everyone that we need to fix it. This can divert resources away from other problems (e.g. working on reducing spousal abuse), and thus making problems worse elsewhere. Moreso if the police force is tasked with handling spousal violence and they're now tied up in internal investigations, maybe losing funding, and thus reducing their capabilities. It'll also be fuelling an unnecessary conflict (possibly violent) between people who should otherwise be allies in the struggle that is life. More people get hurt, more people can die. That's a pretty dangerous outcome.

sorrybookbroke , (edited )
@sorrybookbroke@sh.itjust.works avatar

You do not, and there's no reasonable way you could have gotten that from what I've said

I said fascists, not right wingers. Your association of the two is entirely your own. I am honestly tired of this one sided weirdness where every time I say fascist, certain people hear right wing. The two very much differ

Yes, general left wing propaganda is less dangerous than fascist propaganda. I hope we can agree on this basic fact.

Also, my point is that here we (mainstream lemmy) value truth more than a freedom of speech absolutist community. Lies and false info is speech, by definition a freedom of speech absolutist community will, always, allow lies to be spread. It's fundamental to their belief system. The same would go for a normal, non absolutist, right wing community. They are safer than a freedom of speech absolutest community. Lastly, I said, clearly, that fascist thrive in absolutism. Where they can lie continually without recourse

I never said it was good to spread this false info. I said the opposite

Less dangerous means it's still dangerous. I was clear on this point, it is a danger, and you should still be cautious. Here though, once more, obviously false info may be taken down.

Please re-read my comment. You like so many others in this digital age decide what a person is saying rather than trying to understand it. You gave no respect for conversation nor do you truly wish to discuss this topic. It's exhausting. I said none of what you've claimed and in fact stated the opposite several times.

You are the reason debate is dead (metaphor)

Edit: Attempts to make it painfully clear what I mean

howrar ,

I'll go over this again later when I have more time, but for now, I just want to say that I don't appreciate spending so much time trying to understand what you've written only to be met with accusations of having deliberately done the exact opposite. I may not be particularly smart, but I'm putting in the effort.

sorrybookbroke , (edited )
@sorrybookbroke@sh.itjust.works avatar

I am really, very sick of saying one thing before having to confirm it applies to "both sides". I say you are not immune to propaganda, you hear don't listen to the other side. The term "you are not immune to propaganda" is neutral. You were the only one here to bring up "left" or "right".

I'm sick of people ignoring my words and ascribing new meaning. I say, left wing propaganda is in no way different from right wing propaganda and that absolutist freedom of speech leads to fascists thriving, you hear me saying that lies from the left are good and that the right lies much more than the left. The only person I said lied were the fascists, who thrive where they can lie, in the absolutest freedom of speech alternatives

This is continual. I say none of these things yet you accuse me of this. I don't appriciate you suggesting the antithesis of what I said is what I meant. I don't appriciate this strange conflation of the entire right wing with facism nor the suggestion I did so. I may be left wing, but I'm not going to suggest the right wing is fascist. That is inflammatory and idiotic

No, there's no rational way you could have gotten what you claim to from reading what I wrote. I was perfectly clear. You have not put in the effort.

howrar ,

So my efforts didn't yield the correct understanding. I recognize that it happens and that's why I put a short summary of my understanding right at the start so that you can easily correct it without having to read through everything else and expend unnecessary energy trying to parse it out. If you don't want to continue the discussion, that's fine. I can find my answers elsewhere. There's no need to be a dick about it.

radiofreeval ,
@radiofreeval@hexbear.net avatar

You aren't immune to propaganda.

Omega_Haxors ,

I am not immune to propaganda!

milicent_bystandr ,

Perhaps an unpopular take, but my suggestion would be to think if you can come from the perspective of love: do you love these people, and care about them, though they've believed lies? Can you converse with them with respect, listening to why they feel how they do, and be patient to bring truth only to help them, not to self-righteously vindicate yourself?

Then again, this is the internet, so if you jump in, post inflammatory memes, pat yourself on the back for being so clever, and jump out again, and show us the results; perhaps I'll giggle along with the rest of us.

For a different take, you might like to note that part of the effectiveness of propaganda is not a good rational explanation but repeated asserted lies. Jumping into a different set of assertions can help pop you out of ones you've wrongly believed from your own background - but it can also wear you down to believe, or half believe, what the other community is saying even if it's without merit. Keep a check on the things you read: What's the actual source behind this? Could these be repeatedly misconstruing that thing in the same way (so they look coherent but aren't)? Is there some useful truth in here I missed? And is there a subtle lie attached to the truth? And there's lots of other helpful questions you can ask: but keep a sensible head and be prepared to step back and look at something else.

BumpingFuglies ,

This is the right answer. Hatred just breeds more hatred. If you approach with love and understanding (or at least a desire to understand), you'll have a much better chance of changing hearts and minds. Try to meet in the middle and you might be able to point them in the right direction.

sinewyshadow OP ,

I've thought about being compassionate with these people, but the moment you get called a jewish slur or the n word, all compassion kinda goes out the window.

milicent_bystandr ,

I feel for you, though that's where the true test of compassion is.

some_guy ,

It potentially opens you up to radicalization in the wrong direction.

Vendetta9076 ,
@Vendetta9076@sh.itjust.works avatar

Generally radicalization in any direction is bad.

Omega_Haxors ,

It's always that instance.

AmosBurton_ThatGuy ,
@AmosBurton_ThatGuy@lemmy.ca avatar

Yeah, Lemmy.ml is pretty trash tbh

davel ,
@davel@lemmy.ml avatar

You know where the exit is.

Cowbee ,

Why? Shouldn't the measure of good and bad be with respect to how correct it is, not how closely the position aligns with the status quo?

Carighan ,
@Carighan@lemmy.world avatar

The word implies an unhealthy and incorrect degree. Otherwise you're not radicalized, just representing an opinion.

Vendetta9076 ,
@Vendetta9076@sh.itjust.works avatar

To be fair I think my definition of radicalize is wrong given the other comments. Ive always used it as a synonym for extremism.

davel ,
@davel@lemmy.ml avatar

Enlightened centrist entered the chat.

SatansMaggotyCumFart ,

They’re not looking for freedom of speech but freedom from consequences.

You’ll get banned there real quick.

moreeni ,

wtf is freedom of speech if not a freedom of consequences from what you say?

Zagorath ,
@Zagorath@aussie.zone avatar

People telling you you're and arsehole and treating you like what arsehole is then expressing their freedom of speech.

It's also a consequence of your speech.

moreeni ,

That's fair but I don't think there's much freedom of speech if someone will murder you for what you've said

Zagorath ,
@Zagorath@aussie.zone avatar

Where the fuck did murder come from?

moreeni ,

That's a possible outcome that I subconciously included in the list of consequences

Zagorath ,
@Zagorath@aussie.zone avatar

I mean sure, if you leap all the way from 0 to 1,000 for no reason.

moreeni ,

No reason? Being murdered is still a consequence, isn't it? Why wouldn't I include it?

Zagorath ,
@Zagorath@aussie.zone avatar

Because "a consequence" doesn't mean "any and every possible consequence anyone could think up".

moreeni ,

So a consequence isn't a term to describe consequences, according to you. OK, I seem to get it now.

stoy ,

There is a distinct difference.

Freedom of speach means that the government can't punnish you for talking shit, except in limited circumstances.

Freedom of consequences from what you say, means that no one should be allowed to let what your say affect them in any way, this means that no one would be allowed to be offended by what you might say, nor that they would be allowed to act on such offence.

In a functional society you want to have freedom of speach, but not freedom of consequences from what you say. This allows you to express opposing views in mostly resonable ways.

pmk ,

As long as the consequences are words and non-violent actions. Advocating violence as a consequence for someone expressing an idea is imho dangerous and should be avoided.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • [email protected]
  • kbinchat
  • All magazines
    •