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brekin » Tue Jul 23, 2013 12:23 am"]Allow me to come out of self imposed seclusion to give my take on the matter.
1.
Accusing board members of the "T" word (terrorist) specifically and alerting security agencies of that fact "even in jest" is conduct that I believe is unsupportable and unconscionably. I wanted to say 'Thank You' for posting and that I totally agree with you on that.
I dont think that this has ever happened on R.I. before.
If this board has such a bright line regarding accusing other members of being disinformation agents shouldn't be less indulgent with labels that are much, much more flammable?
** Again I agree. My suggestion is that this is written into the rules as a total No-No - i.e. from now on an Instant permaban, regardless of how bloody long standing or brilliant the contributor has been.Why? Because the case that there is a possibility of physical negative real world consequences for the persons involved and for the board and for Jeff is not trivial. That possibility may not even get realised for years, as my understanding is that data analysis is way way behind data hoovering and storage. The people at RI are just one degree or two degrees of separation away from the Greenwalds and Karla Turner's of the world.
I would like everyone to stop and consider that a kid was in jail in Texas for at least 6 months or more for making some unwise remarks that someone else thought should be elevated and there was that Marine state side who got heat for some of his private facebook comments and got hauled in, etc.
** Absolutely true. Young children having ppolice called on them at school and being subjected to multi-hour interrogations for bringing a Swiss Army knife to Show and Tell...
Would anyone in this day and age want someone accusing them as a T and addressing the NSA in regards to their online username? It doesn't take much in the media to paint someone as unstable or a threat and I would think those that frequent this board would not be actively creating complications for other board members online and offline lives.
** Agree completely. If there was a magic "Instantly Lockdown R.I." big red button on my keyboard, I would have punched it.
You also don't have to be Hugh-like to imagine algorithms looking for certain words and combinations being flagged for further review, then you get on a list, and so it goes. I am rather surprised at the lackadaisical attitude in regards to this.
** You are really polite about it. I'm not. I think the attitude is utterly fucking dumb.
When I read innocent people getting railroaded, sometimes just by bureaucratic carelessness or falling into a category by being maligned, I take it seriously and don't think it is joking material. This isn't 1995 anymore, the internet destroys people now.
** On this occasion, I think it is a wake-up call here at R.I.
Internet communication isnt a vacuum, one's intention may not be malicious in the least, however that is seeing only the starting point of the communication, ignoring the end point - how it is received by an 'AUDIENCE' WHO *REALLY* DO NOT APPRECIATE THE HUMOUR - is very important.
Thank you, Brekin for posting. FWIW I sincerely hope you come back. Ironically, from the point of view of ensuring sound 'online reputation management', I think you would be better off doing that - which I appreciate may sound a bit surreal