Technology without due consideration given to society is really, really dangerous. Hopefully this thread (which is actually quite excellent) will encourage some people to apply technology to issues of the day.

The guidelines do not say that.

> Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon.

Politics are completely on-topic here when (and only when) the story in question is relevant for some other reason. This is evidenced by the fact that many of the best stories, and best discussions, which lead to the best educational experiences for all of us, are first-and-foremost about a political issue.

Posting a scribe about your campaign to destroy party X because they wronged you in another life? Off-topic. A discussion about how we can help victims of capricious state violence? That's the main reason I come here.

This isn't political, it's just asking how to help people in trouble.

Was wondering the same thing.. come for tech news, get instantly put off by vocal users forcing US politics in the conversations. I thought the no politic rule would help with that.

If you work in tech or academia, you probably know many immigrants. This issue is just as important to the tech world as surveillance.

There was an experiment with no politics for a week, but that got cancelled a while ago.

Everything is about politics. When this affects my co-workers, my neighbors, my friends, my church, this is political.

Tech isn't getting involved in politics. Politics got involved with real people.