Comment by 93po
2 years ago
HN, both its community and the moderators, flag posts that generate a lot of conflict in the comments. The comments on this are especially bad by HN standards and therefore the flagging is inline with how the site is openly operated.
I am pro Palestine and not simping for Israel. I think visibility on Israel's actions matter, but HN is also very clearly not the appropriate website for a lot of politically involved news.
I disagree with this, in this issue and more broadly. Technology and hacking are inextricably linked to politics, whether we like it or not. We cannot separate the effects technology has on society and the body politic, and politics has an effect on technology through regulatory regimes, policy, and the law. These discussions are important to the development of technology even if it makes people uncomfortable to see views they disagree with, though of course there are discussions that are unproductive and should not be allowed on this specific forum.
Just as an example, the EU is setting a lot of law and policy surrounding technology right now, affecting how companies like Apple operate or putting policy into place to regulate emerging technologies like AI. The people who make the technology should be aware of those policies, how it affects what they build, and society's view on the products of their development more broadly.
I realize Israel and Palestine is a charged topic, but in my view, the high stakes of that conflict and the threat to human life on both sides means it's more important to have conversations about technology in that context, not less. Those conversations are probably going to hurt somebody's feelings, but we ought to talk about issues like how freedom of speech online and terrorism are connected and how AI systems and the military are mixing because it's important to maintaining the ethical fabric of our profession.