Comment by eoskx

13 days ago

Glad to see this post didn't get flagged like the one that was posted yesterday on a similar topic about ICE data mining and user tracking.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46748336

98 comments

eoskx

Reply
taurath  13 days ago

It likely will. There’s major impact on literally everyone in tech, there’s huge data privacy concerns, and it has less coverage or discussion than a new version of jQuery. The US gov could fall but that would count as politics here so clearly irrelevant.

  • andy99  13 days ago

    > less coverage or discussion than a new version of jQuery

    Pretty sure this is a feature not a bug. Most people aren’t here for political topics.

    • pibaker  13 days ago

      In a corrupt and authoritarian country, it is common to have officials busted on "corruption" or "embezzlement" charges. And yet most people know they are actually not jailed for the crimes they got charged for, because there are more than enough people to fill all the prisons for breaking the exact same laws they are accused of breaking. They knew the only reason these people got jailed is because they lost some kind of power struggle within the administration, and corruption is just a convenient lie those who prevailed tell you to keep you comfortable.

      You never see the "no politics please thk u" crowd when it is about protests in Iran, Chinese oppression in Hong Kong, Russian aggression on Europe or hell, when people were literally running a political campaign the EU to stop killing games. You only see people flagging political submissions when it is a particular kind of politics - just like you only see corrupt officials jailed when they are a certain kind of officials.

      Connect the dots, make your own conclusions.

      1 reply →

    • jprd  13 days ago

      There is always going to be an intersection between tech and politics. This convo is no different than talking about Section 230, H1B visas or using vision models to sexualize people or distort the truth.

    • robby_w_g  13 days ago

      > Most people aren’t here for political topics.

      Or rather, most people aren’t here to have their preconceived notions challenged by reality.

      Politics is a nebulous term for topics that affect a large number of the population. Tech intersects with politics all the time and deserves good faith discussion.

      1 reply →

    • paganel  13 days ago

      When the computer code many of us are working on is directly shaping that politics I think that we should talk about it and stop hiding behind the bush.

      8 replies →

    • jakeydus  13 days ago

      Most people aren’t here to be faced with anything that challenges the status quo, you mean. They don’t want to read anything uncomfortable.

    • matwood  13 days ago

      > Most people aren’t here for political topics.

      There was a time when SV and technology eschewed politics, but that time is long gone. You only have to look at how often all the big tech CEO's end up at random Whitehouse events to see how they are intimately intertwined now.

      2 replies →

    • ajb  13 days ago

      Comments like this remind me of those guys who wouldn't stop working, in the twin towers. Just didn't want to get out of their zone.

    • AlecSchueler  13 days ago

      > Most people aren’t here for political topics.

      Looking at the vote numbers on these posts before they get flagged would suggest otherwise.

      Ok, I'm not "here for political topics" but I'm here to discuss things with my peers in tech. Mostly that's tech news, yes, but not always.

    • DeathArrow  13 days ago

      >Most people aren’t here for political topics.

      Still, I was down voted a lot when I said there's too much politics here.

    • taurath  13 days ago

      It gets down to the definition of political which is basically anything that might have a human cost, including to the people here. I have many coworkers having to upend their lives, some can’t currently leave the country. This is not worthy of discussion, but an esoteric library update is. Paul Graham posts are not political topics for some reason, but H1B people is.

      Technology, technology leaders, and technology companies are literally driving politics, buying elections, driving the whole US economy.

      Saying what “political” topics are IS political - and it’s decidedly a right wing position. Only those with the powers protecting them get to avoid politics.

      2 replies →

    • xzjis  13 days ago

      German pastor Martin Niemöller:

      "First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Communist.

      Then they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist.

      Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

      Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew.

      Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

      1 reply →

    • camillomiller  13 days ago

      You're past the time of saying that and not being seen as an enabler my friend. This isn't normal politics anymore. They are killing people in the streets. If you don't think that your tech toys have a lot to do with that, then you should grow up. This pathetic point does not apply anymore.

  • jjice  13 days ago

    Tons of political posts are on the front page of Hacker News all the time. The ones I actually see get flagged are generally bad articles. Sure, there's real stuff that gets flagged down too, but Hacker News is far from a place where politics is always flagged.

  • nailer  13 days ago

    Yes. I think the problem is people that drive into police officers, abandon their children or bring a gun to a law enforcement event then resist arrest. HN is full of activism these days and I’m tired of the support for vigilantism.

    • moogly  13 days ago

      No the problem is bootlickers with less self-preservation skills than animals who bend over backwards to reject actual reality because they think they're in the billionaire pedophilic ruling class in-group when they're not.

      1 reply →

noncoml  13 days ago

It is really disheartening and sad to see this community burying its head in the sand and ignoring what’s happening to our country

  • shantara  13 days ago

    What I see today on HN mirrors the processes I've witnessed in Russian speaking parts of the net during the 2010s. Despite the escalation of totalitarianism in Russia, the growing internet censorship and military operations in nearby countries, which left the posters on the same websites on the different sides of military conflicts, some sites have stuck to their "no politics" rule. Both to avoid upsetting people in power and out of their owners' naïve beliefs.

    Reading them was like living in an alternate reality where nothing more notable happens than a release of new version X of a framework Y. Large portions of the tech community had exactly the same attitude that could be seen here and now - refusal to consider the societal implications of their daily work, adherence to technical solutions over the real world ones ("I'll just work remotely and use a VPN, who cares") and just simple willful ignorance.

    It was around that time that I started to frequent English speaking discussions, which were much more vibrant and open. It saddens me to see the same kind of process repeat itself here.

  • mercanlIl  13 days ago

    As a non-American, I like the way HN is moderated. This isn’t an American politics and domestic issues forum.

    • progbits  13 days ago

      As a fellow non-american who also hates politics (us, home or other), pretending this doesn't affect you or the tech world is hopelessly naive.

      I hate seeing these posts on HN. I hate not seeing them / getting flagged more.

      1 reply →

  • thrance  13 days ago

    If it was only that... What I really take issue with are all the mentally ill trolls jumping in to defend ICE, lying through their teeth about the content of videos we all saw. But actually supporting murder isn't enough to get you banned in here.

  • nailer  13 days ago

    There’s probably a lot of people that have say mainstream left (eg Obama and Sanders statements around 2010), centrist and conservative views on illegal immigration and support enforcing the law. What you see as something bad happening is something very normal made more difficult by unhelpful state governments and vigilante groups.

    • array_key_first  13 days ago

      Anyone who believes ICE is legitimately trying to rectify illegal immigration is either too stupid to function or a liar.

      Because I give the benefit of the doubt, I will assume most people are not that stupid. So, the only option left is they don't actually believe it, and it's just virtue signalling to their fascist overloads. Personally, I think that's a bit pathetic, not to mention naive. Nobody has any reason to think they will be spared, citizen or not.

alex1138  13 days ago

Damn near everything on HN gets flagged eventually. Either get everyone to drop their biases as Silicon Valley tech VCs or make it so that flags can ONLY be used to remove clear abuse. Sick of it

lvl155  13 days ago

I actually think it’s best that HN flags and removes them because we are quickly entering a stage in this country where you will be flagged by the government monitoring the internet. I would caution people to start using VPN and continuously flush your IPs. I would even go as far as to recommend removing face ID from your devices which basically offers zero protection once you’re detained (or have a quick way to disable it).