Leigh Beadon 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (6138)

• On the post: Massachusetts Poised To Become The Next State To (Temporarily) Ban Facial Recognition Tech

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 08 Dec, 2020 @ 11:30am

  Re: off topic - broken links

  Hmm, definitely something weird going on with he prev/next links on some posts - thanks for catching this, we're looking into it!

• On the post: This Week In Techdirt History: November 22nd – 28th

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 29 Nov, 2020 @ 09:12am

  Re:

  fixed, thanks!

• On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 01 Nov, 2020 @ 08:27pm

  Re: The Truth about Techdirt

  Damn, I almost wish my life actually was the high-octane international espionage drama that this lunatic thinks it is.

• On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 26 Oct, 2020 @ 07:55am

  Re:

  My bad! Not sure how I mixed that up.

• On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 20 Sep, 2020 @ 09:06pm

  Re: Just a reminder...

  I was certainly using "publishers" as a shorthand, perhaps a bit sloppily so - I was referring to something both more broad (not just book publishers, but other copyright-based industries as well) and more narrow (the generally-huge corporate publishers, record labels, etc. that are primarily behind the push for stronger copyright laws) than you describe. Though I will note that, when it comes to the control of publishing and the legal enforcement of the right to copy, it would be more accurate to say "authors are an extension of publishers". Copyright grew out of printing press monopolies, and the idea of authors having an inherent exclusive right to copy their work was sort of backfilled in as it evolved.

• On the post: Content Moderation Case Study: Facebook Responds To A Live-streamed Mass Shooting (March 2019)

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 29 Aug, 2020 @ 11:22am

  Re: Authoritarian Apologist?

  Pardon? These case studies are designed to be extremely neutral. We are outlining what happened. Companies face these decisions every day, and they are often challenging, raise complex questions, trigger unforeseen side effects, or just don't go well. We're documenting these kinds of incidents to help understand the challenges of content moderation and highlight the difficult tradeoffs, so it can be done better - not to make the case that it's "futile". Content moderation is never going to be easy or simple. These case studies aim to help people navigate it.

• On the post: New Face Masks: The First & Fourth Emojiments

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 25 Aug, 2020 @ 02:18pm

  Re: Ironic from Leigh

  (Plus, having been sued in the US for libel along with Techdirt, I've personally benefited from the protections of the First Amendment!)

• On the post: New Face Masks: The First & Fourth Emojiments

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 25 Aug, 2020 @ 02:18pm

  Re: Ironic from Leigh

  I'm just the one who knows how to use Illustrator :)

• On the post: Content Moderation Case Study: Talking About Racism On Social Media (2019)

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2020 @ 05:06pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  Notice that last part of the definition - "typically one that is a minority or marginalized" Even in such a neutrally worded definition, it is necessary to point out that discrimination against a marginalized minority is distinct. If you want to say, "it all falls under the broad umbrella of racism in the most abstract sense" then fine. If you want to say "racism is racism" - as in, it's all exactly the same, and there is no meaningful distinction to be drawn between a white person's expression of hate against black people, and a black person's expression of frustration against white people, then... no. And I think you know that's incorrect.

• On the post: Content Moderation Case Study: Talking About Racism On Social Media (2019)

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 27 Jul, 2020 @ 10:31am

  Re: Re: Re: Re:

  Again, I'll just reiterate that I think you are operating from a very basic conception of racism - not a useless or never-applicable one, but an extremely incomplete one - and I recommend reading some of the more contemporary social scientific literature on the subject, such as what I linked in my other reply.

• On the post: Content Moderation Case Study: Talking About Racism On Social Media (2019)

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2020 @ 12:39pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re:

  No, it refers to prejudice again others due to their race. The society power differential is an important factor as to the effect of the racism, but a black guy hating on white people is still a racist. You can argue that, but you will find that it's not in line with most of the modern conception of racism in social science over the past several decades. Today, racism is much more commonly defined as "an ideology of racial domination" - in which it is not solely about prejudice or even "hate" but specifically a prejudice of racial inferiority that is used to justify a group's inferior treatment or social position. The conception of racism as primarily about individual psychological prejudice or expressions of hate is considered to be something of a relic of the first half of the 20th century. Since the 50s and 60s, the social scientific conception has become much more focused on power, and the understanding that "racialization becomes racism when it involves the hierarchical and socially consequential valuation of racial groups."

• On the post: Content Moderation Case Study: Talking About Racism On Social Media (2019)

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 26 Jul, 2020 @ 12:28pm

  Re: Re:

  racism is racism Is it, though? I would say that racist comments backed up by centuries of occupying the oppressor role and myriad oppressive power structures, and racist comments made in frustration out of being on the other side of that history and structure, are two very different things - and any analysis of "racism" that fails to grapple with that difference is woefully incomplete. That certainly doesn't provide an easy answer for a question like social media content policies, of course. I don't have a clear solution for Facebook. But the idea that equality can only be achieved by magically jumping straight from centuries of oppression to total colourblindness is also silly and harmful, and smacks of a "gotcha!" mentality.

• On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 19 Jul, 2020 @ 05:49pm

  Re: For the record...

  She/her wasn't referring to you, but the woman in the story! As in, your comment was bringing perspective to her claims

• On the post: What That Harper's Letter About Cancel Culture Could Have Said

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 10 Jul, 2020 @ 02:13pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  The word "punishment" shouldn't go unexamined here. Punishment is retributory. Sometimes that is what people demand, yes. More often, the demands (removing someone from a platform, or from a job where they interact with the public or make decisions that impact other people) are about preventing them from continuing to do the perceived harm. Whether the perceived harm is real or severe enough to warrant that or whether that justifies the requested remedy is its own question that has various answers depending on the case. But when someone says "kick this bigot off twitter for their hateful speech" it isn't really punishment they are asking for - it's action to discontinue the harm they are perceived as causing.

• On the post: What That Harper's Letter About Cancel Culture Could Have Said

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 10 Jul, 2020 @ 12:03pm

  Re: Re: Re:

  does not entitle anyone to demand consequences Once again: everyone is entitled to "demand" anything they want. Demands are just speech. Whether they get it or not, and who from via what mechanism of power, is another question entirely.

• On the post: Harper's Gives Prestigious Platform To Famous Writers So They Can Whine About Being Silenced

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 08 Jul, 2020 @ 10:53pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  But if someone is at a BLM rally with that sign, why not assume it is a statement of support? Hahahahahhahahahahahaha JB, dude, are you realy, really still not getting my point about naively allowing yourself to be grifted and manipulated? C'mon man. I'm going to bed. Sleep on it, especially that sentence you just apparently sincerely typed.

• On the post: Harper's Gives Prestigious Platform To Famous Writers So They Can Whine About Being Silenced

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 08 Jul, 2020 @ 10:46pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  If the viewpoints in the letter were understood and applied widely to all of society, would they not represent a good for all? That's a very abstract question, applying abstract viewpoints to the abstract concept of "society" So if you mean, like, the real point of the letter - J. K. Rowling whining about the backlash to her multiple tweets and blog posts about trans people - and your suggestion is that, instead of people getting mad at her, they just shut up and didn't criticize it and nobody got angry, and nobody fought loudly and vocally for the humanity of trans people, or asked her to apologize and step back and learn more before continuing to make harmful statements... then no, I do not think that would be "good for all".

• On the post: Harper's Gives Prestigious Platform To Famous Writers So They Can Whine About Being Silenced

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 08 Jul, 2020 @ 10:36pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  How do you feel about the phrase "all lives matter"?
  It makes me nervous. Because I know that as self-evident as its literal sentiment is, some might come after me for saying it. So like, if a person shows up to counter-protest a BLM rally with a big sign saying "All Lives Matter" you are saying that's just a self-evident literal statement whose meaning and intent cannot and should not be judged in any other way? Or does context start to matter at that point?

• On the post: Harper's Gives Prestigious Platform To Famous Writers So They Can Whine About Being Silenced

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 08 Jul, 2020 @ 10:31pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  *It seems clear to me that they were writing in the service of all of humanity. Do you seriously think that the letter is attempting to infect you with some kind of mind virus that will somehow trick you into doing the author's bidding?* Well I dunno, but it's injected you with a mind-virus that makes you grandiosely describe the world's richest and most widely-published author whining about people's criticism of her stubborn transphobia by arrogantly and transparently pretending it's civilization-threatening censorship as "writing in the service of all of humanity"

• On the post: Harper's Gives Prestigious Platform To Famous Writers So They Can Whine About Being Silenced

  

  Leigh Beadon ( profile ), 08 Jul, 2020 @ 09:50pm

  Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

  Let me ask you a simple question I raised with someone else earlier today on Twitter, with regards to your notion about ideas existing independently, to be interpreted only based on their self-contained meaning with no consideration given to the context of who is saying them and what their motives might be. It's quite a simple question. How do you feel about the phrase "all lives matter"?

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