卫报发布了一篇文章,宣称Fediverse除了Gab之外。还有着几十个通过p2p技术和开源软件从事极右政治,宣扬阴谋论和新纳粹主义的实例。这篇文章还引用一个叫做 Megan Squire的"专家"的说法,声称主流的开源文化长期以来一直是"极端厌女主义"的体现,"对社会充满了毒害","虐待着所有人"。该文章指出,类似于Pleroma, Mastodon 和 Matrix 的社交平台和Facebook, Twitter这些巨头不一样,由于它们的去中心化特性,这些平台是无法遭到审查的。在Guardian看来,这是一个很严重的问题,因为这意味着权威机构和技术巨头不能审查言论,Guardian暗示道,要打击"仇恨言论" 和 "纳粹主义",就要把言论置于政府和巨头的控制之下,这些去中心化平台是不允许存在的。

"Beyond Gab’s ambiguous place in the fediverse, the Guardian found dozens of servers using peer-to-peer, open source tools, which were either exclusively or disproportionately devoted either to far-right politics, or to conspiracy theories that mainstream social media services have previously cracked down on, including coronavirus denialism, “incel” culture and neo-Nazism."

"Megan Squire is a professor of computer science at Elon University who has published research on both the far right and open source software communities. She says that “the dominant open source culture historically has been one of extreme misogyny, unfounded meritocracy, toxicity and abuse of everyone,” and that Smith is one of those resisting efforts to change that culture."

"Some open source communications platforms go a step beyond this, and do away with the need for servers altogether by implementing a “peer-to-peer” network. PeerTube, for example, allows users to browse and watch videos in a similar way to YouTube, but instead of streaming it to users from a central server, each user watching a video acts as a relay point.

The technical details are perhaps less important than the practical effect: no one has authority over these platforms: no one owns them. While governments and users can place pressure on the big social media companies to ban problematic users or communities, for better or worse, no one can stop anyone creating their own servers or peer-to-peer networks.

These technologies, then, are effectively uncensorable. According to a report by Emmi Bevensee, the co-founder of research consultancy Rebellious Data and the social media monitoring tool SMAT, extremists have been advocating, and even developing them, for years."

amp.theguardian.com/world/2021

poa.st/objects/3c198fd5-7927-4

有一位朋友质疑卫报的这篇文章是否真的主张把言论置于政府和巨头的控制之下,抑制去中心化技术,这是我的回答,由于原本的讨论串并不公开,所以我再重新发一遍:

问:我希望你能解释一下,原文中到底哪里暗示“要打击"仇恨言论" 和 "纳粹主义",就要把言论置于政府和巨头的控制之下,这些去中心化平台是不允许存在的。”?

答:如果你觉得原嘟文的暗示还不够明显的话,我愿意再补充一些:

The technical details are perhaps less important than the practical effect: no one has authority over these platforms: no one owns them. While governments and users can place pressure on the big social media companies to ban problematic users or communities, for better or worse, no one can stop anyone creating their own servers or peer-to-peer networks.

These technologies, then, are effectively uncensorable. According to a report by Emmi Bevensee, the co-founder of research consultancy Rebellious Data and the social media monitoring tool SMAT, extremists have been advocating, and even developing them, for years.

" The reason I want it as a trans anti-fascist is the same reason that a Nazi wants it; we just have opposite ends "

“Every marginalized community knows what it’s like to be systematically deplatformed”, says Bevensee, who uses non-binary pronouns, pointing to the way in which groups such as sex workers have adopted platforms like Mastodon after finding themselves unable to advertise their services.

But as Bevensee’s report shows, peer-to-peer platforms are a double-edged sword. “The reason I want it as a trans anti-fascist is the same reason that a Nazi wants it; we just have opposite ends,” they explain.

“You know who really doesn’t understand it? The FBI,” Bevensee adds: “we’re talking about a technology that can’t be subpoenaed. It can’t be surveiled” and, in order to carry out remote surveillance of private chats, “you would have to back door every single device in the world”.

This opens the way for extremists to propagandize and organize on platforms that are beyond the reach of legal authorities and tech giants alike. After the far right-friendly social media site Gab encountered hosting problems and app store bans, it rebuilt itself on Mastodon’s software, despite determined opposition from the platform’s creators and users.

文章提到,假如用户使用的是去中心化平台,这些平台就不会因为外部的施压而封杀"问题用户"。 (去中心化保护问题用户)

文章还提到,"极端主义者"长年以来一直在推行在研发这类技术。(研发去中心化和p2p等技术的是坏人)

文章还提到,因为这些技术无法被监控,无法被传唤,极端主义者就可以利用这些技术进行宣传和组织。(使用这些技术的是坏人)

问:我还看到了:
"a double-edged sword"
"The reason I want it as a trans anti-fascist is the same reason that a Nazi wants it; we just have opposite ends"

为什么你看到卫报提到 "can’t be surveiled" ,就觉得它是在强调censorship的重要性?还有,下面讲的这些利用技术为恶的难道不是事实?为了不被闭嘴而转行研发这些技术的确实有一大部分人是极端人士啊。

答:"can't be surveiled 来自于该文对Bevensee报告的引用,该文在其后又加入"This opens the way for extremists to propagandize and organize on platforms that are beyond the reach of legal authorities and tech giants alike. " ,再联系前文的"While governments and users can place pressure on the big social media companies to ban problematic users or communities" ,可推导出该文主张把这些人困在中心化的平台中。的确,极端分子利用技术为恶是事实,但首先,我们要把重点集中在有权有势的人用利用技术所行的恶,也就是政府和技术寡头所行之恶,其次,任何技术都有好处有坏处,但总体而言,我认为去中心化的技术是利大于弊的技术,再者,在去中心化技术出现以前,就已经有过印刷术,电报,电话等传播信息的技术,这些技术当然也曾经被坏人使用,但我不认为应该禁止印刷术,电报,电话。即使没有任何技术,只要人有一张嘴,就有可能传播坏思想,但我认为不应该因此封住所有人的嘴。最后,要想完全扼杀人们的恶行,只有靠扼杀人们的自由意志,只有没有自由的地方,完全的安全才是可能的,但这种安全是无意义的。

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@Vectorfield

你後面的論點我同意

但這句
//可推导出该文主张把这些人困在中心化的平台中。//

你是如何推導出來的?

你的引文也只是說在 監管 極端分子上
去中心化技術 比 中心化平臺差

但沒有說因此 去中心化技術就是弊大於利/要禁止並把人都困在中心化平臺上

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@amokhuxley 对,问题集中在监管上,或者更坦白地说,审查上,而不可审查的特性,或者说极难审查的特性,正是去中心化技的核心特性之一,可以说审查(当然,这里说的是来自集中权力的审查,而非实例的自治行为)就是与去中心化相冲突的。那么问题就来了,卫报认为可以为了去中心化技术而牺牲审查吗?

这篇文章认为去中心化的坏处有:

1.让极端右翼和阴谋论者有了发言空间。

(This could allow far-right activists to operate in ways that make them very difficult to shut down)

(be used to shelter far-right extremists from the consequences of their hate speech and organizing.)

2.其他人无法让平台封杀问题言论。

(While governments and users can place pressure on the big social media companies to ban problematic users or communities, for better or worse, no one can stop anyone creating their own servers or peer-to-peer networks.)

3.无法保障弱势群体的"安全空间"。

[“the dominant open source culture historically has been one of extreme misogyny, unfounded meritocracy, toxicity and abuse of everyone,” and that Smith is one of those resisting efforts to change that culture.

In recent years, and especially since the Gamergate movement intensified scrutiny on toxicity in tech, some responded to the blatant sexism, antisemitism and racism online with codes of conduct after realizing this behavior was actually starting to hurt them (Squires says they couldn’t recruit and retain developers).

The provision of safer online spaces for marginalized groups is a large part of the motivation of many of the people who have created the underlying software. On those platforms, tools for moderation and easy ways to flag sensitive content are baked in by design. But Smith is among a small group who repeatedly rail against the introduction of such codes of conduct within open source projects.

In a video recorded a week after the Capitol riots, when social media bans were removing rightwingers from Donald Trump down to prevent further violence, Smith said that those who wanted to bypass censorship should use the Twitter-like platform, Pleroma.]

一些开发者为了保障安全空间在设计中对敏感内容进行标记,可是像Smith这样拒绝改变"厌女主义的和充满毒性和虐待的开源文化"的人却依然能用p2p和去中心化等技术建立不标记敏感内容的平台。总之,去中心化的性质意味着你不好迫使每个实例都接受这些"codes of conduct",保障不了"安全空间"

好处有:

1.让另一些少数群体比如性工作者有了平台,全文基本上就提到了这一个好处,也许Fediverse的提倡者是进步主义左派也能算一点,可是该文又说就历史而言开源文化是厌女主义的和充满毒性和虐待的文化。

那么好了,是让极端右翼和阴谋论者有了发言空间,让问题言论得以传播,让弱势群体失去"安全空间"的保障更好呢?还是让另一部分弱势群体有平台更好?我想意思已经很明显了,我们姑且不谈坏处1和坏处2,只谈坏处3,也就是让弱势群体失去"安全空间"的保障,让它和好处1,也就是让另一些少数群体比如性工作者有了平台相比:首先,性工作者只是弱势群体的一部分,去中心化平台只能保护一部分弱势群体,也许也保护了另一些弱势群体,但是是保护的范围没有中心化的"安全空间"大,比方说,中心化的"安全空间"能保障黑人不必看到Nigger,但去中心化平台就不能,你必须自己点block,而在你block之前你大概率已经看到了这个词,中心化的"安全空间"能保障LGBT不必看到"男人永远变不成女人",去中心化就不能保障。中心化的"安全空间"保护的范围是高于去中心化提供的平台的,假如更多的人选择了去中心化平台,"安全空间"就不能提供那么多的保护了,也许你认为卫报不见得觉得中心化提供的"安全空间"优于去中心化提供的平台,但再加上再加上1.极端右翼和阴谋论者也有了发言空间。 2.问题用户封杀不掉。 这两点,显然,这里体现的是弊大于利。

弊大于利是否就意味着禁止去中心化平台,或者把人们困在中心化平台呢?我认为,如果去中心化和中心化是两种相并列的技术,就不需要非此即彼,但这两种技术是相冲突的,它们的运行方式和设计理念截然相反,现在它们的冲突不明显,是因为去中心化还在初期阶段,但倘使去中心化兴盛了起来,成为了无法忽视的势力,比方说全世界人有一半人都在用去中心化平台,恐怕Facebook Twitter就早已与其产生根本的冲突了。如果去中心化真的战胜了中心化巨头,那么根据卫报的看法,一个无法审查,无法提供"安全空间",充满极端右翼和阴谋论的问题用户的前景就成为了现实,因此完全有理由把这些技术扼杀在萌芽状态(如果真的能成气侯的话)。对于当前状态的去中心化技术,卫报的这篇文章,以及它代表的观点,持的是一种敌意和警觉的态度,并不明确表示封杀,但如果去中心化技术能发展状大,那么封杀是一定的。

@Vectorfield

// 3.无法保障弱势群体的"安全空间"。//

這點不是衛報說的啊
你引用的文章中就有提到
開源軟體開發者的動機 很大程度上就是爲 邊緣羣體提供安全空間的;文章是肯定這點
//The provision of safer online spaces for marginalized groups is a **large** part of the motivation of many of the people who have created the underlying software.//
相對而言,Smith只是代表小部分人而已(“Smith is among a small group”)

所以第3點無法成立

另外文章批評 去中心化技術讓 極右份子有發言空間,但同時引用Bevensee(一位使用去中心化技術的反法西斯主義者),所以「好處」那裏大概也要加上 讓左派有發言空間什麼的

至於後面你對中心化與去中心化的比較,就只是你個人意見,而非從文章所能得出的推論

你說衛報文章警惕 去中心化技術 的陰暗面,我同意;但說提倡扼殺則言過其實

@amokhuxley 不,文章并不认为Smith是少数,开源软件开发者大都希望保护弱势群体。原文的说法是"the dominant open source culture historically has been one of extreme misogyny, unfounded meritocracy, toxicity and abuse of everyone,” and that Smith is one of those resisting efforts to change that culture." 什么叫Dominant呢?如果是少数那还叫Dominant吗?文章的说法是"占主导地位"的开源文化是厌女主义的和充满毒性和虐待的文化(而且历史上就一直如此),因此(在这篇文章眼中),厌女的,压迫的,邪恶的开源开发者不大可能是少数,而应该占多数。而Smith只是"one of those resisting efforts to change that culture"而已,也就是说,Smith在保卫传统的主流开源文化,抵制左翼分子希望实现的改变,既然Smith和主流开源文化站在同一阵线,那么Smith代表的也不大可能是少数。文章虽然说到了那些"为弱势群体提供安全空间的 is a large part of the motivation of many of the people who have created the underlying software。但对于这些underlying software到底是哪些却语焉不详,我们只好结合上下文。上文是"In recent years, and especially since the Gamergate movement intensified scrutiny on toxicity in tech, some responded to the blatant sexism, antisemitism and racism online with codes of conduct after realizing this behavior was actually starting to hurt them"。 我查了一下,Gamergate movement不属于开源的圈内,而toxicity in tech也是泛指,不特指开源社区。下文是"On those platforms, tools for moderation and easy ways to flag sensitive content are baked in by design. But Smith is among a small group who repeatedly rail against the introduction of such codes of conduct within open source projects." 显然,作者认为,这里说的"嵌入设计中的敏感标记和审查机制"是在开源社区以外的,否则就不需要"introduction"了(我们这些自己使用mastodon的用户也知道这一点),而Smith则是开源社区中多次拒绝这种"introduction"的少部分人群之一。综上所述,这些underlying software 大概率指的是Facebook Twitter这些采取了审核标记机制的中心平台,而非去中心化的fediverse社区。因此,文章提到的"替弱势群体提供安全空间"应该指的是Facebook Twitter开发者的动机,而非开源软件开发者的动机,故你的反驳不能成立。至于让右派,性工作者和右派拥有(不受审查的)发言空间,这一点可以概括为言论自由,这是由去中心化技术的性质决定的,但Bevensee真的认为言论自由是一个优点吗?这很难说。他希望的也许是只限于部分人的言论自由,但去中心化技术,至少目前而言提供的就是所有人的言论自由。最后两点,关于个人意见与实际意图之间的关系,我只能说,作者的真实动机是什么,只有作者知道,所以我只能称之为暗示,但我的这种意见并非没有根据,我们没有办法知道他人的主观想法,但我们可以通过客观的依据,例如外在的言语和行为,做出最接近事实的推测。而根据这些客观证据,我们得出的结论是,该文重点描述了中心化技术的坏处,而对中心化技术的好处轻描淡写,而且指出了去中心化与控制问题言论之间不可调合的矛盾,所以我认为我的个人意见是有依据的,当然,我不把我的意见视为绝对真理,你也可以把这篇文再分享一遍,加上你不同的评价。

(时间有限,我不想把更多资源花在这条讨论串上,因此不会有更多的回复,谢谢。)

@Vectorfield

另外twitter現在也在開發 去中心化的社交平臺了
叫bluesky

之前ta們出了份報告,考察現有的各種去中心化社交平臺
mastodon開發者Gargron也在諮詢範圍
matrix.org/_matrix/media/r0/do

@Vectorfield

還有就算撇開衛報文章不論
直接比較去中心化與中心化的 保護程度
也不是那麼高下立見的

固然,中心化平臺 名義上 能確保統一的社羣守則(實際執行是另一回事);去中心化則有賴自覺

但同時去中心化技術也很多種
像mastodon這種聯邦網絡
實例admin的權力其實遠大於 centralized SNS moderator
所以保障相應更高

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