They need to understand that to anyone right of center, this comes across as a conspiracy to silence all dissent. No matter what you think of Steve Bannon (and even most conservatives don't think highly of him), that's a very bad look.
The defense of broken things that "they could be even more broken" somehow isn't working.
Also, the Internet seems to have made a lot of people more thin skinned, and angry at thought provoking statements. (Did Cerf, Kleinrock et al. foresee they were laying the ground work for a reactive "venting" machine?)
The real question for hn (IMO) is whether these are problems that can be solved with technology.
Perhaps we should throw that same playbook at organizations like Breitbart.
You need to understand that to anyone left of center, your demand seems to be a conspiracy to be wrong at will. Isn't that likewise a "bad look"?
What's your solution?
What the fuck does this mean? I want people to be free to express themselves, and yes, that includes being free to earn money. I do not want a few corporations deciding what people are allowed to say on the internet, or even who is able to earn a living on the internet.
It also sounds like you don't support the ability of people who purchase ads to have any control over whether their money funds publishers of the type described above.
Do I have that right?
So, yes, that's OK. Even if he's completely wrong in his claims of fact, we shouldn't be expelling people from society over their choice of historical allusion.
Now, you can argue that this was irony, sure. In the real world, if Bannon isn't delusional, we don't do that and it won't happen. But it's not a metaphor. The word "actually" tells you that right at the start. He is saying, literally, what he would like to do.
And that's awful, and shameful, and if anyone who wasn't on your team said it you'd be screaming (c.f. Kathy Griffin and the severed head -- which was a metaphor!).
Russia used to have a joke department to ensure all jokes were politically correct.
Worked with some Russians who kept going on about how serious a matter it was.
Consider the origins of the term "heresy"...
Their problem here is that it worked, and they won. So now people are trying to fight back by borrowing parts of the playbook. Victim of their own success by dirty tricks.