Comment by xaa | Hacker News Reader

Comment by xaa | Hacker News Reader

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I would sympathize with them on this issue. This is actually the second time this week I have been called a Nazi sympathizer essentially for believing everyone, including Nazis, should be able to air their views in such a way that interested people can hear them. (i.e., they don't have the right to spam everyone, but they shouldn't be blacklisted from businesses otherwise open to everyone just because of the content of their speech).

Being unironically called a "Nazi sympathizer" is by far the most chilling thing to me that has happened of all the political events that have occurred in the last few years. It is also sad that I have to add a disclaimer that I have voted Democrat in the last decade of elections, am not a bigot, etc, etc, (not that someone using this sort of language would believe me).

Do people who say these sorts of things not realize the massive irony of accusing people who defend basic rights of a generally detested group of being "Nazi sympathizers"?

I should have quoted more of the above statement:

> If anything, it is just going to cause people to sympathise with the Daily Stormer, which is presumably the opposite of the intended effect.

There are two different things you can sympathize with here: the merits of the Daily Stormer's position / ideology, and their desire to have a platform.

The domain registrar is shutting them down because they don't agree with the merits of their ideology. I am reading the criticism above as saying, "If the domain registrar shuts them down, more people will be sympathetic to their ideology, which is counterproductive." I think it is fair to label people inclined to sympathy with Nazi ideas as Nazi sympathizers.

I suppose it could be an argument that the domain registrar's action will cause people to be sympathetic to the fact that they should have a domain name, but that makes less sense to me.

> I think it is fair to label people inclined to sympathy with Nazi ideas as Nazi sympathizers.

OK, fair enough, but that's not what you originally said, nor is it what people are doing when they throw that term at me. They're (sometimes intentionally) conflating advocacy of free speech for repugnant ideas with advocacy of those ideas themselves. But I appreciate your openness to try to see my position.

I certainly have no sympathy for Nazis. But the prospect of an authoritarian Internet is indeed chilling. And that's why we need uncensorable overlay networks and such.

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