Firefox introduces extension that automatically censors “hate speech” | Hacker News Reader

Firefox introduces extension that automatically censors “hate speech”

reclaimthenet.org

12 pointstype014 comments

Did any of you actually read the article?

All that the (entirely voluntary) extension does is light-heartedly change one word from something clearly derogatory ("bitch!") to something affirming ("boss!") Tee hee.

It's a funny novelty toy.

https://blog.mozilla.org/firefox/firefox-b-tch-to-boss-exten...

The headline is also kind of misleading, in that it makes it seem like the (entirely voluntary) extension is targeting the vast universe of hate speech... though it really just applies to a single word.

We have to assume someone employed at Mozilla created this extension. This means they worked on this instead of something worthwhile. No wonder Firefox is losing marketshare.

This addon is basically just a Nicki Minaj or Doja Cat reference that probably took under an hour to write. Pretty much every large tech org lets employees make something fun every once in a while, partly to keep developers happy.

The article is trying to create drama where there isn't any.

Not to mention, this may be a little experiment for a junior engineer to get their feet wet with writing extensions.

Instead of falling prey to outrage when Firefox can't live up to our impossible standards, how about we appreciate and celebrate even small accomplishments?

Even a group of talented and selfless devs would lose marketshare to Google

It's precisely the reason why those projects are so important. Not that we should tolerate anything, but the alternative is a shady ad-tech monster and various questionable projects like Brave

Firefox has no long-term future with Mozilla.

It's a pity, but entirely self inflicted. Every time someone want's to give money to Mozilla I try to steer them away to give it to EFF instead.

Reminds me of the Cloud2Butt extension that would....well, replace every instance of the word cloud with the word butt.

Well now I feel justified in stopping my financial contributors to Mozilla and moving over to Brave. If anyone at Mozilla is reading this, these sorts of moves will end in disaster for you.

Massive shame.

I find it hard these days to believe comments like these.

I've seen many that claim to financial contributions to something and say they won't anymore, but then checking through posting history, they didn't ever seem to be a fan of the product/service. It has left me all rather biased.

Well here's an email date June 2020 that I received from them:

Hello CodeGlitch,

On behalf of everyone at Mozilla, especially in these very turbulent times, I just wanted to say thank you once again for your generous support of our work.

Right now we're all gripped by the seriousness of social and racial justice issues facing the United States; you can read the statements from our Foundation Chairwoman Mitchell Baker here, and Vice President of Advocacy Ashley Boyd here.

Because Mozilla's mission to support a healthy internet is enduring and demands sustained commitment, we are also pursuing the work required to meet this challenge. Your support makes all of this possible — and we wanted to update you about our progress.

Here are a few of the ways that we're responding to the immediate challenge of COVID-19, the protests for racial equality in the US, and laying the foundation for a better, safer and more open internet.

We're lifting up the voices of allied organizations on Twitter to help everyone understand their rights, get educated, and take action ... and dedicated the latest issue of our Mozilla News Beat to the global fight for racial justice. We released a special new edition of our Privacy Not Included buyer's guide, that focuses on popular video call apps such as Zoom, Skype and FaceTime ... and have also been working behind the scenes with Zoom's leadership to address security and privacy concerns with their service. And we're delighted to report that Privacy Not Included was recognized with a Webby People's Voice award! We've kicked off a request for comment on version 0.9 of Mozilla's Trustworthy AI Whitepaper. Read more about it in this blog post from our Executive Director, Mark Surman. We brought our Dialogues & Debates series (a MozFest staple) to Twitter with a live "Ask Me Anything" session with Mozilla Fellow Frederike Kaltheuner. You can rewatch this session Trustworthy Technology in the Time of a Pandemic here. We've created the new Mozilla Fellowships for Tech + Society program to strengthen organizations in the Global South by incorporating technology strategies into their work. We released When Content Moderation Hurts, a collection of six stories examining challenges and opportunities around content moderation and platform regulations. Together with program partners, we launched an open call for proposals to win funding from the Coil-sponsored Grant For the Web program designed to support independent content creators. Once again, we deeply appreciate your support, and please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

The Mozilla Partnerships & Fundraising Team (Stephanie, Hilary, Juan, Jessie, Will and Jesse)

Translated: Firefox follows US trends and norms of what is "hate speech" and what speech should be allowed, and censors the internet it was supposed to help keep free.

I bet those that worked on this have the mindset of "this is free, you're free to support eliminating hate speech" or some bull.

We're going to end up with a segmented internet, segmented economy etc.. all because the ideals of companies trying to stay neutral has gone out the window for woke points.

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