Let's talk about how companies profit from violent misogynistic hate and how in doing so they contribute to radicalization. Sites like Reddit and 4chan make money off incel forums. Yes, they make money off of men talking about raping, acid attacking, and killing women.
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But both of these sites basically are open seasons on hate. In fact, the Reddit CEO recently said that they would not ban open racism or slurs. So, what you get is an armpit of the internet where hateful people can come together from around the world and radicalize each other.
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If you have some terrible ideas about women, but everyone around you IRL has normal ideas about women then you will likely still have terrible ideas about women but you might think you're unique and you certainly won't start plotting a revolution for incels.
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But go online and find people like you spouting off a virulent hatred of women and talking about how acid attacks and killings are necessary so that the world will someday realize how much you need and deserve sex and give it to you? Yeah, that normalizes that kind of thinking.
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By not policing this kind of speech online, what happens is that these communities grow. More people get radicalized. Those people get more confident and settled in their hatreds. More bad things then happen in real life.
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While we all have the right to say whatever we want, no company has to host that speech, nor should they. But they do. Because they make money off of it. It would be interesting to see how much these sites make off of hate speech.
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How much are each of the lives lost worth to these companies? Here's the thing - if these sites were hosting forums that were radicalizing terrorists to stage violent attacks - that would be shut down in a hot minute. But how is coordinated misogynist attacks not terrorism?
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The same things goes with the violence and hatred against other groups which these sites give platform to. Twitter and Facebook also make $ off these and other hatreds. Heck, Twitter JUST added mocking disabled people as a legitimate complaint category recently.
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All of these companies are MAKING MONEY off of what is essentially hate speech that radicalizes people who hate others and encourages them to harm others. News outlets aren't much better with slack commenting policies that often allow hate speech or the promotion of hate as well.
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I hear people talk about the importance of no-platforming hateful speakers at public institutions, and while this is important, it is the internet platforms that tech companies give them that have truly led to the rise in radicalized hate.
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Until tech companies crack down on hate speech and disband forums that radicalize people, we aren't going to get anywhere. No company should be making money off of people plotting violence, promulgating hate, or using hate speech.
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End of conversation
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