Hacker News Reader

Comment by comex | Hacker News Reader

I see three different top-level comments suggesting that this post is an oblique announcement of some kind of censorship or banning system being developed for the Tor software. It is clearly nothing of the sort, and Tor developers value the system far too much to try to shoehorn a backdoor into it. Respond to it for what it is - a statement of social principles.

View on HN

I wouldn't say "clearly". They make reference to doing something about harassment but give no outline what that might be. The post is tagged feminism. Believe it or not, not everyone supports this type of feminism. I'm not comfortable with Tor being so overtly political.

You mean some people are uncomfortable in having their place in the social pecking order challenged? News at 11.

No. First of all you're being pretty rude. Secondly, I don't want ANY pecking order in Tor. They should just focus on making privacy tools and leave the unrelated political messaging aside.

You are posting an unpopular position, and are going to get flamed for it by people who won't articulate why they think you're wrong.

For what it's worth, I think you're right about the common-carrier argument. If that's not the argument you're making, disregard my support.

A lot of these folks, in their reasonable zeal to prevent somebody on the internet having their feelings hurt or being made to feel scared, are ignoring the global costs to their chosen fuck-you-got-mine strategies of selective communications. A minority would be even happy to let, say, a misogynist with a cure for cancer be panned or banned irrespective of their other positive qualities. They can be hard to reason with.

What other volunteer organizations would be better if they just did whatever you wanted them to?

"Making privacy tools" IS political.

Why is it a surprise that the people making these privacy tools were motivated by a desire for communication free of the chilling effects of violence?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com