zlacker

I've been thinking for a while about what would happen if the slippery slope doesn't happen and big tech companies stick to censoring only the things that you can't say in nice costal elite company or can't say in China. I think I have finally worked out what the analogy would be for that. It is analogous to what some would call "systemic racism." Systemic racism is defined as a constant headwind against minorities that is composed not of organized pogroms against innocents, but as thousands of tiny cuts combined with a few isolated pogroms that can be denied as the work of radicals. Our violent criminals get a little less punishment than their violent criminals. Our political radicals are pushed away by the media a little less than their political radicals. We have a few instances of doing something clearly unfair to them, which are understood as exceptions and quickly forgotten, but whenever they do something clearly unfair to us, it's held up for years as an example of their moral inferiority.

That's the kind of constant headwind that can add up over time and distort a society beyond recognition. Why? Because the disadvantaged group will see their disadvantage get worse over time, because in the vast average of thousands of interactions, they slide slightly backwards. As the disadvantage gets worse, the bias gets worse along with it. This can play out in many situations, from the ones that seem totally indefensible ("What do you mean we're being unfair, he's a murderer!"), to the ones that seem ridiculously minor.

>>whatsh+(OP)
Just to be clear about your argument here - you are suggesting that Facebook changing its recommendation algorithm to not suggest that people join groups run by white supremacist paramilitaries advocating for a second civil war is akin to systemic racism?

>>kthxby+z
One facet of systemic racism is how legitimately dangerous black radical groups were treated, yes. Like I said, bias can even appear in situations that seem totally indefensible.

>>kthxby+z
COINTELPRO was an FBI program to discredit the Black Panthers, whose public image is marred to this day by the program. So these things do happen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO

> Beginning in 1969, leaders of the Black Panther Party were targeted by the COINTELPRO and "neutralized" by being assassinated, imprisoned, publicly humiliated or falsely charged with crimes. Some of the Black Panthers affected included Fred Hampton, Mark Clark, Zayd Shakur, Geronimo Pratt, Mumia Abu-Jamal,[18] and Marshall Conway. Common tactics used by COINTELPRO were perjury, witness harassment, witness intimidation, and withholding of evidence

>>whatsh+(OP)
Wow. This is quite a stretch. I honestly didn't expect to see this on hackernews. At least this mental exercise, as improper as it is, probably can help you see how bad the situation is for black people.