From Pine View Farm

The Digital Deride 0

Josh Marshall muses on the effects of major internet platforms’ (Twitter, a number of hosting providers, Facebook, and the like) yanking the accounts of various Neo-Nazi white supremacist actors, or, to put it another way, returning the trolls to their rightful place–under the bridge.

After noting that the irony that much of contemporary American political discourse takes place via privately-held, monolithic, for-profit platforms, he makes this trenchant observation (emphasis added):

The mix of provocation, harassment and trolling is a major part and in some ways the totality of what the digital far-right is about. That’s why racist activists are so eager to give speeches at Berkeley. They get a reaction. Fights start. They create polarization. If some racist freak holds that speech is his backyard or basement with ten friends, who cares? No one does. No one even knows . . . .

Do please read the rest.

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