Discord bans servers and accounts linked to alt-right

[David Matthews]

Discord, a popular chat platform for gamers, is shutting down servers and accounts associated with the "alt-right". The company announced the actions on Twitter following the protests and resulting violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

According to Discord, members of the alt-right groups on the chat service such as AltRight.com reported messages for violating Discord's terms of service since Discord itself cannot read the private messages on its servers. “When hatred like this violates our community standards we act swiftly to take servers down and ban individual users,” the company said in a statement. “The public server linked to AltRight.com that violated those terms was shut down along with several other public groups and accounts fostering bad actors on Discord. We will continue to be aggressive to ensure that Discord exists for the community we set out to support — gamers.”

Love. Not hate. pic.twitter.com/5xFpvHTuI2

— Discord (@discordapp) August 14, 2017

Following the ban, members of those servers were predictably outraged with many claiming censorship and political bias. Others called for Discord to ban the servers of the counter-protestors as well with the company promptly replying to report those servers and they would be investigated also.

The ban of alt-right accounts on Discord follows earlier news of GoDaddy and Google banning white supremacist site The Daily Stormer for posting a disparaging article on Heather Hayer, a 32 year old woman killed in Charlottesville during the protests.

While many would view these series of events as an extreme reaction by companies, there has been a lot of pressure on social media networks in particular to clamp down on views deemed "hateful" or "extreme".

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have faced backlash for allowing extremist Islamic groups such as ISIS to use their platforms as a means to spread their ideology. Chat platforms such as Discord and even domain hosting companies such as GoDaddy are now trying to figure out how to deal with views considered extreme.

Last week, Google had to defend itself over a 10-page "manifesto" penned by former Google engineer, James Damore, that criticized Google's diversity initiatives and claimed conservative voices were suppressed and discriminated against. Although Damore was summarily dismissed from Google as a result of his manifesto, there were some within Google itself who quietly agreed with him but did not voice their opinions for fear of being fired. Furthermore, others commented that Damore's firing was exactly the kind of behavior that Damore was decrying, suppression and/or elimination of views that contradict the majority.

In a previous article, I wrote:

A larger issue still looms over what actually defines "extremist ideology". What's extreme for one person may be just fine to another person. Who gets to decide what is extreme? Could this lead to widespread censorship on every major social media platform?

I believe this sentiment still rings true. While many (if not all) companies have terms of service that have zero tolerance policies regarding hate speech against protected classes such as race, gender, and sexual orientation, there still seems to be a lingering issue as to who gets to decide what is hateful and whether or not such views should be allowed. While I believe a great majority of people would agree that white supremacist/neo-Nazi ideologies are hateful, should their voices be suppressed simply because they are hateful? The answer may seem pretty cut and dry to most folks and yet complex to others.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/70580-discord-bans-servers-accounts-linked-alt-right.html

 

[davislane1]

Q: How can we stop the ascent of the far right?

A: Completely cut them off from everything and give them nothing to lose.

Genius.

 

[Kotters]

The problem is the narrowing of the pool of acceptable ideas. The definition of a Nazi and Hate Speech grows every day. The echo chamber threatens to swallow all, if left unchecked. It's so bad, I actually saw the Charlottesville thing in the news and dismissed it as more wolf-crying. Only at a later date did the fact that there were actual Nazis get to me.

When everyone is a Nazi, everyone can be silenced. When making someone uncomfortable is a hate crime, diversity of thought and expression comes under fire.

 

[Bruce V Wayne]

This is all well and fine, but where was discord when it came to Black Lives Matter and their support for the justification of police assassinations?

 

[Nobina]

I wish these companies would just **** off from politics and instead make their services not garbage. Nobody gives two shits about Discords political views.

"Look, there's a riot going on, I wonder what Discord people think about it?"

 

[captaincranky]

This is all well and fine, but where was discord when it came to Black Lives Matter and their support for the justification of police assassinations?

You missed it there Batman, when black people were given "equal rights", white people's rights were taken away to provide them.

The simple fact of the matter is, blacks stick together, With white people it's every man for himself.

And although this episode of "white supremacy" was indeed extreme, it's bordering on illegal to form a group promoting white only interests.

We're asked to deal with the ramifications of slavery each and every day, but why do we have to take down monuments and statues of heroes to a cause, even though it may have been a wrong cause, or one that we don't agree with.

The simple fact of the matter is, this bullsh!t is all Orwellian. Rewriting history and even the language for the purposes of modern convenience.

You'd actually think black activist / hate / supremacist groups would be better served with those monuments firmly in place. I gives them something to hate and then justify shooting police officers over.

I'm sort of befuddled as to why we need things like "black history month". After all, if we're after 'equal rights', where the heck is 'white history month'.

Hey, why not have "Amazon tribes history month"? After all isn't the invention of foliage huts, blow darts, and curare, something we should all take the time to revere?

 

[viperfl]

The alt left are a bunch of violent people. So why not ban them? The people associated with the alt left would burn your house down if you think differently then they do. I don't care if you're black, blue or purple, you still can be a racist. You have to love the people who want a racist free society but promote segregation.

 

[Evernessince]

This is all well and fine, but where was discord when it came to Black Lives Matter and their support for the justification of police assassinations?

You missed it there Batman, when black people were given "equal rights", white people's rights were taken away to provide them.

The simple fact of the matter is, blacks stick together, With white people it's every man for himself.

And although this episode of "white supremacy" was indeed extreme, it's bordering on illegal to form a group promoting white only interests.

We're asked to deal with the ramifications of slavery each and every day, but why do we have to take down monuments and statues of heroes to a cause, even though it may have been a wrong cause, or one that we don't agree with.

The simple fact of the matter is, this bullsh!t is all Orwellian. Rewriting history and even the language for the purposes of modern convenience.

You'd actually think black activist / hate / supremacist groups would be better served with those monuments firmly in place. I gives them something to hate and then justify shooting police officers over.

I'm sort of befuddled as to why we need things like "black history month". After all, if we're after 'equal rights', where the heck is 'white history month'.

Hey, why not have "Amazon tribes history month"? After all isn't the invention of foliage huts, blow darts, and curare, something we should all take the time to revere?

Isn't most of history "White History" in the first place? Having a white history month would be redundant. The idea of [insert ethnicity here] events is to expose everyone to another culture / group. As we all know, fear of the unknown leads to repression. The want for events to celebrate the majority equates to nothing more than a circle jerk.

The alt left are a bunch of violent people. So why not ban them? The people associated with the alt left would burn your house down if you think differently then they do. I don't care if you're black, blue or purple, you still can be a racist. You have to love the people who want a racist free society but promote segregation.

I've see comments like this but where are the supposed crimes these people are committing? Can you even give examples from credible sources that show any pattern of significance? I can do that easily with the alt right.

 

[Kotters]

Isn't most of history "White History" in the first place? Having a white history month would be redundant.

This is a tremendously bigoted view. The vast majority of the world isn't even white. "Most of history" being declared a particular race is disingenuous, and I refuse to believe you actually hold that view. I can only conclude you are attempting to rile up others via trolling, in which case, good job.

 

[viperfl]

Isn't most of history "White History" in the first place? Having a white history month would be redundant. The idea of [insert ethnicity here] events is to expose everyone to another culture / group. As we all know, fear of the unknown leads to repression. The want for events to celebrate the majority equates to nothing more than a circle jerk.



I've see comments like this but where are the supposed crimes these people are committing? Can you even give examples from credible sources that show any pattern of significance? I can do that easily with the alt right.

Come on now, I think we can apply some intelligence here. To even ask that question implies some lack of it. I can bet $20 where you get your so called credible information from.

 

[Uncle Al]

History is written by the "winner" and rarely, if ever, reveals the entire truth it is's entirety. Today's hero is tomorrows villein and the country only seems to pull together when there is a single common enemy as in time of war. Even this is short lived and we go back to our old ways. It is the penalty for having free speech, freedom to assemble, etc, etc. ALL freedoms are protected, despite the fact that they can work against us just as quickly as for us. As one very wise man once told me, "life is a perpetual pendulum ... swinging one direction, then back the other, but never coming to rest in the middle".

 

[captaincranky]

Isn't most of history "White History" in the first place? Having a white history month would be redundant.

Hardly. Were we to compare accomplishments, "White History Month", would encompass the rest of the year. But after all, "in the name of equality", we have to scrounge up a comparative two weeks worth of achievements and drag them out for a month.

Let's talk about things white & yellow people invented, which our African American 'brothers" have commandeered to base most of their culture around.

1: The Staffordshire Bull Terrier, alias "pit bull". Hell we even let our NFL quarterbacks get away with fighting those. (As long as they 'repent', when it comes time to sign that multi-million dollar contract. (Michael Vick Phila. Eagles)).

2: Messrs, Colt, Remington, Smith & Wesson, and Luger, inventors of the firearms which bear their names were all white men, yet go out to Chicago and determine the ethnicity of those doing most of the killing with them.

3: The Chinese invented gun powder, without which, the foregoing would have been impossible.

4: There have been opium dens in the orient for centuries. People have been selling heroin on the streets for damn near as long. Yet all of a sudden, it's the (mostly white), doctors who are getting people hooked.

Well, if our police are incapable of cleaning the dope off our streets, (it is, after all, human nature to get high), then let's lock up the doctors, since they're not likely to shoot you, and you can still swear you did a good days work.

"The doctors did this to us". Classic propaganda if I've ever heard it. With the price of prescription drugs, it's no wonder people are taking to the streets for their painkillers. Don't you worry poor baby, if you live near me, there'll be a friendly black face to take your pain away.

I've see comments like this but where are the supposed crimes these people are committing? Can you even give examples from credible sources that show any pattern of significance? I can do that easily with the alt right.

Well, I guess all those shootings of police officers in the name of, "black lives matter", were all justified, at least according to you. And on any given day, if you'd be so kind as to crank your head out of your bum, you can come over my "hood", and watch no fewer than a dozen or so, "lives than matter", dish out heroin and crack from dawn to drop, while their women collect welfare, social security, and section 8 free housing. Our inner cities are teeming with worthless individuals, whose sole purpose is to breed more like themselves, get people hooked on their poisons, and claim they're being discriminated against.

You're so ungodly out of touch with reality, it's a crying shame.

Bruce Springsteen's debut album, "Greetings from Asbury Park", contained a song called, "Lost in the flood". The lyrics are as follows:

"The ragamuffin gunner is returnin' home like a hungry runaway
He walks through town all alone--"He must be from the fort, " he hears the high school girls say
His countryside's burnin' with wolfman fairies dressed in drag for homicide"

Note the emboldened line. Now fast forward to 2017, and "Brooooce", refuses to do a concert unless those very same "wolfman fairies", are allowed to use the ladies room. So, Mr. Springsteen is apparently suffering the same overdose of political correctness and forced millennial propangda as you.

And remember, when somebody says the just want 'equality', that's a euphemism for, "I want everything you have, and don't care if I have to take it off of you to get it".

 

[Evernessince]

This is a tremendously bigoted view. The vast majority of the world isn't even white. "Most of history" being declared a particular race is disingenuous, and I refuse to believe you actually hold that view. I can only conclude you are attempting to rile up others via trolling, in which case, good job.

A Majority of historical figures are white, this is a fact. It's not for a lack of great people of color but simply because there are more whites than anything else. Also "tremendously "? Are you Trump?

Come on now, I think we can apply some intelligence here. To even ask that question implies some lack of it. I can bet $20 where you get your so called credible information from.

It's called a rhetorical question. Basic English seems to have escaped you.

Hardly. Were we to compare accomplishments, "White History Month", would encompass the rest of the year. But after all, "in the name of equality", we have to scrounge up a comparative two weeks worth of achievements and drag them out for a month.

Let's talk about things white & yellow people invented, which our African American 'brothers" have commandeered to base most of their culture around.

1: The Staffordshire Bull Terrier, alias "pit bull". Hell we even let our NFL quarterbacks get away with fighting those. (As long as they 'repent', when it comes time to sign that multi-million dollar contract. (Michael Vick Phila. Eagles)).

2: Messrs, Colt, Remington, Smith & Wesson, and Luger, inventors of the firearms which bear their names were all white men, yet go out to Chicago and determine the ethnicity of those doing most of the killing with them.

3: The Chinese invented gun powder, without which, the foregoing would have been impossible.

4: There have been opium dens in the orient for centuries. People have been selling heroin on the streets for damn near as long. Yet all of a sudden, it's the (mostly white), doctors who are getting people hooked.

Well, if our police are incapable of cleaning the dope off our streets, (it is, after all, human nature to get high), then let's lock up the doctors, since they're not likely to shoot you, and you can still swear you did a good days work.

"The doctors did this to us". Classic propaganda if I've ever heard it. With the price of prescription drugs, it's no wonder people are taking to the streets for their painkillers. Don't you worry poor baby, if you live near me, there'll be a friendly black face to take your pain away.

Well, I guess all those shootings of police officers in the name of, "black lives matter", were all justified, at least according to you. And on any given day, if you'd be so kind as to crank your head out of your bum, you can come over my "hood", and watch no fewer than a dozen or so, "lives than matter", dish out heroin and crack from dawn to drop, while their women collect welfare, social security, and section 8 free housing. Our inner cities are teeming with worthless individuals, whose sole purpose is to breed more like themselves, get people hooked on their poisons, and claim they're being discriminated against.

You're so ungodly out of touch with reality, it's a crying shame.

Bruce Springsteen's debut album, "Greetings from Asbury Park", contained a song called, "Lost in the flood". The lyrics are as follows:

"The ragamuffin gunner is returnin' home like a hungry runaway
He walks through town all alone--"He must be from the fort, " he hears the high school girls say
His countryside's burnin' with wolfman fairies dressed in drag for homicide"

Note the emboldened line. Now fast forward to 2017, and "Brooooce", refuses to do a concert unless those very same "wolfman fairies", are allowed to use the ladies room. So, Mr. Springsteen is apparently suffering the same overdose of political correctness and forced millennial propangda as you.

And remember, when somebody says the just want 'equality', that's a euphemism for, "I want everything you have, and don't care if I have to take it off of you to get it".

The problem here is there seems to be some perception that every ethnicity is equal. Here's a question, if we were all already equal what's the point in having these inter-ethical events?

 

[Paulos7]

This is all well and fine, but where was discord when it came to Black Lives Matter and their support for the justification of police assassinations?

You missed it there Batman, when black people were given "equal rights", white people's rights were taken away to provide them.

The simple fact of the matter is, blacks stick together, With white people it's every man for himself.

And although this episode of "white supremacy" was indeed extreme, it's bordering on illegal to form a group promoting white only interests.

We're asked to deal with the ramifications of slavery each and every day, but why do we have to take down monuments and statues of heroes to a cause, even though it may have been a wrong cause, or one that we don't agree with.

The simple fact of the matter is, this bullsh!t is all Orwellian. Rewriting history and even the language for the purposes of modern convenience.

You'd actually think black activist / hate / supremacist groups would be better served with those monuments firmly in place. I gives them something to hate and then justify shooting police officers over.

I'm sort of befuddled as to why we need things like "black history month". After all, if we're after 'equal rights', where the heck is 'white history month'.

Hey, why not have "Amazon tribes history month"? After all isn't the invention of foliage huts, blow darts, and curare, something we should all take the time to revere?

Amazon Lives Matter... I like it.

 

[wiyosaya]

The alt left are a bunch of violent people. So why not ban them? The people associated with the alt left would burn your house down if you think differently then they do. I don't care if you're black, blue or purple, you still can be a racist. You have to love the people who want a racist free society but promote segregation.

As I see it, your comment applies equally to both sides, or shall I just say extremism of any sort. Extremists on either side are equally as bad.

Personally, I would rather be in a society where racism is castigated even if they cannot yet meet their own ideals than one where racism is extolled.

 

[Evernessince]

This thread isn't even on topic anymore. I'm just trying to get other's point of view and all I get is name called. Sad.

 

[captaincranky]

So if the piece of sh!t is really doing that and you are not just blowing wind, then why don't you anonymously report the piece of sh!t? Surely, you could count on the piece of sh!t being shot by the investigating officers, right?

But there's one bad example in your domain, so all, then, must be equally as bad, yes? Heck, you could even apply Occam's Razor to that statement, yes? By that reasoning, then, it is no wonder hate groups exist especially when those in them blame everyone else for their own problems.

Like I've been trying to explain, you haven't a clue what you're talking about. I have 12 drug dealers on a street with 40 houses, probably 12 of which are boarded up. These people are garbage as a class, not merely as individuals.

If they were baboons, they'd be worth something. people would pay to see them in a zoo. As it stands, they do nothing but suck money out of every social entitlement you can think of, including your wallet. But you're so damned clueless, you think I can't judge character at point blank range. The "POS" I pointed out has about 8 brothers ans a schizophrenic sister, who just had a bouncing crack baby. When a healthy looking AA girl of maybe 5'7" 140 Lbs pitches out a 5 Lb preemie, even you should have enough sense to know something's up.

Oh then there was the shooting about 10 doors up about a month or so ago. The corner house is section eight, with 3 crack dealers working out of the front door.

Now, exactly who the f**k am I going to report, everybody on the whole damned block?

Hell, they just locked up our district attorney up on federal corruption charges. He plea bargained for a nickel, one assumes because a jury would have given him much more. Right before this, he drew the ire of our FOP for allowing some girl to start beating on a cop, without filing charges. And you guessed it, he's black, and so was the girl.

The new democratic nominee is a self professed, "civil rights attorney". The shyster wan by a landslide. How much actual justice this city will have after he wins the election?

So, when this guy is elected, (and it's not a question of if), we'll tacitly have an ACLU lawyer for head prosecutor. His credentials:

A civil rights lawyer who has defended Black Lives Matter and Occupy Philadelphia protesters is poised to become Philadelphia's next district attorney.

Larry Krasner has never worked as a prosecutor but benefited from a $1.5 million donation from liberal billionaire George Soros to an independent political action committee that ran commercials and sent out canvassers in support of his candidacy.

(BTW, the last Republican mayor was:
Bernard Samuel. Bernard "Barney" Samuel (March 9, 1880 – January 12, 1954) was a Republican politician who served as the 115th Mayor of Philadelphia from 1941 to 1952. He is to date the last Republican elected mayor of Philadelphia ).

When police shoot unarmed meditation teachers trying to report a crime along with other shootings over the years, I think this speaks to a deeper problem than just police shooting blacks; but yes, when people protest those problems, it is a crime, right? I am not in the least justifying anyone shooting anyone else for any reason, merely pointing out there IS a deeper issue there even if you refuse to see it through the white haze that appears to envelop you.

You make less and less sense as you go on. Now we have a Muslim cop shooting an unarmed white woman. Is somebody getting even?

As for protesting that action I think the New Zealand Prime Minister protested that. AFAIK, he wasn't arrested for it.

 

[captaincranky]

This thread isn't even on topic anymore. I'm just trying to get other's point of view and all I get is name called. Sad.

Poor baby. You should try and have a statue of me torn down, because you don't agree with my politics

But really, the topic on a broader sense was race relations, and white people's right to form organizations and have rallies.

 

[Kotters]

A Majority of historical figures are white, this is a fact. It's not for a lack of great people of color but simply because there are more whites than anything else. Also "tremendously "? Are you Trump?

Citation Needed.

 

[captaincranky]

A Majority of historical figures are white, this is a fact. It's not for a lack of great people of color but simply because there are more whites than anything else. Also "tremendously "? Are you Trump?

Citation Needed.

He's right you know. Why there's even a statute of George Washington, smack dab in the middle of Tienanmen Square, Beijing, China!!

After Ole George got done fathering our country, he painted himself yellow, and fathered China's 3 billion people too!

Anyhoo...."I am Spartacus.....er......, I mean Trump"!

 

[wiyosaya]

@david-matthews With respect to these lines from the article:

A larger issue still looms over what actually defines "extremist ideology". What's extreme for one person may be just fine to another person. Who gets to decide what is extreme? Could this lead to widespread censorship on every major social media platform?

and

While I believe a great majority of people would agree that white supremacist/neo-Nazi ideologies are hateful, should their voices be suppressed simply because they are hateful? The answer may seem pretty cut and dry to most folks and yet complex to others.

It seems that many have a misconception about what actually constitutes freedom of speech in the US. I know I did, but after doing a small bit of research before posting a reply to another thread, I found that as decided by the Supreme Court of the US, not all speech is considered protected under first amendment rights.

Before I continue, I am not a lawyer, nor am I an expert in the matter.

However, a bit of research will reveal that there have been cases before SCOTUS in which petitioners claimed that their free speech rights were violated. To make the long story short, SCOTUS decided that first amendment rights do not include the right to slanderous or libelous speech - their reasoning being that such speech is not an essential component for open discourse of ideas.

On that basis, I also have to imagine that anything outright illegal is also not protected by first amendment rights. For instance, inciting to riot or violence are chargeable offenses in the US, and therefore, are not likely to be protected by first amendment rights.

It simply seems that many do not understand this, but it is the rule of law and order in the US whether everyone likes it or not.

There are boundaries that have been established by SCOTUS and the laws of society with respect to what is actually lawful. If anyone, regardless of political affiliation, crosses those boundaries, it will and, at least as I see it, should have consequences whether it be by the courts, or being banned from a web hosting service because it violates their TOS.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

Not cool Discord. Here in Milwaukee we had a student at Marquette U get told by his professor that 'hate speech' wouldn't be tolerated in her classroom. The 'hate speech' in question was a belief that marriage was between a man and a woman.

When hate speech is silenced - all you need to do to silence people who think differently than you is call their opinion 'hate speech.'

Plus - how are you ever going to convince someone they're wrong (like the Alt Right) if you don't listen to what they have to say?

 

[Evernessince]

Poor baby. You should try and have a statue of me torn down, because you don't agree with my politics

But really, the topic on a broader sense was race relations, and white people's right to form organizations and have rallies.

Or your lack thereof race relations. White people weren't denied their right to form rallies here (even the ACLU you dislike fought to defend that). You even have president pineapple defending the "White People" even after they brought guns to a "rally". FYI it isn't a rally when you bring guns and other weapons, it's a militia.

You seem to deny basic human nature, which is to form groups with individuals of similar caliber. Any social experiment will tell you that the minority will always be oppressed without any rules of conduct in place.

 

[Misagt]

And remember, when somebody says the just want 'equality', that's a euphemism for, "I want everything you have, and don't care if I have to take it off of you to get it".

Well said, CaptianCranky.

 

[captaincranky]

Or your lack thereof race relations. White people weren't denied their right to form rallies here (even the ACLU you dislike fought to defend that). You even have president pineapple defending the "White People" even after they brought guns to a "rally". FYI it isn't a rally when you bring guns and other weapons, it's a militia.

Well, Trump was criticized when he condemned the actions of the white supremacists, simply because he didn't allow the far left to write the speech for him. Anything Trump might say or do, will never coincide with the wishes of Hillary's, "he's not our president, so he can't ever do anything right", pissy, dissident, bitter, fanatical, social entitlement grubbing followers.

You seem to deny basic human nature, which is to form groups with individuals of similar caliber. Any social experiment will tell you that the minority will always be oppressed without any rules of conduct in place.

Hardly, when I tell you about the 'group' I live with's penchant for illegal doings and depravity, you accuse me of being a "racist".

Although, I do think there's an equation of sorts whereby, "the intelligence of the mob is equal to the square root of the IQ of the group's least intelligent member", which cuts a wide swath, both to the right and left, of center.

You seem to hear what you want to hear, Trump didn't mention the names of the groups he denounced, so according to you, he 'glorified them'.

And BTW, I'm doing social experiments each and every time I post here. You don't think I give a flying snot about Ryzen, or the newest smart phone, do ya? If you do, you're delusional.