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SixApart attacked over hate speech

SixApart attacked over hate speech

Blog company SixApart is under fire following attempts by a Jewish blogger to have a user banned from TypePad after posting anti-semetic remarks on his blog.

Richard Silverstein writes that he is “steamed” with SixApart and takes offence at the response from TypePad staff that were not sympathetic and who told him that stated that “[TypePad does] not ban anything globally except for widespread spam.”

He also writes that the TypePad staff member in question has “seems to have taken personal umbrage at my “going public” with my feelings about this matter.”

View Comments (9)
  • It’s not so much a platform issue, you can’t blame the software really … it’s a “hosting policy” issue. Typepad is the hosting arm of this company if I’m not mistaken?

    Many hosting companies have policies regarding hate speech and other obscene content and users are banned for breaking the TOS.

    Why doesn’t typepad?

  • From the TypePad TOU:

    Should Content be found or reported to be in violation with, but not limited to, the following terms, it will be in Six Apart’s sole discretion as to what action should be taken.

    You agree that you will not:

    (a) upload, post, transmit or otherwise make available any Content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortuous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy (up to, but not excluding any address, email, phone number, or any other contact information without the written consent of the owner of such information), hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
    ======================
    Now this was comment material, not a post. The complainer wants the IP address banned, and can’t understand why that might be a bad idea: “The logic of much of this reply escapes me. First, she says “we do not ban by IP address in this manner. It ends up blocking way more people than intended.” Of course, in this case there is only a single person to be banned and no one else would be affected by the ban except him (or her).”

    Most IP addresses, of course, are dynamic and shared – and banning the IP address would actually ban others as well – and be ineffective at actually banning the perp.

    I can sympathize, but I also understand where SixApart is coming from.

  • Thanks to the Blog Herald for posting about my hate attack.

    I’ve learned a helluva lot about IP banning since I first wrote the post linked above. Maybe IP banning is not the right way to go here.

    But Typepad has not even indicated that it might be willing to ban the hater even if it could do so technically. That’s one thing that troubles me.

    Second, the fact that TP does not have a robust way to individually identify (& ban if necessary) abusive commenters is also troubling. I know this is a problem that afflicts all blogging services so I don’t want to single out TP as the only one–but geez, guys, figure out some ways to not only give your users more control over hate speech in their blogs; but give yourself (TP) more tools to identify & ban these people if they break your TOS.

    Finally, a few comments above misunderstand the problem. TP gives its users tools to ban offensive comments after they are made. I’m not complaining about that (though these tools aren’t terribly robust). I’m complaining that TP isn’t willing to ban speech GLOBALLY that may be criminal.

  • It’s a battle of the nutcases. (And I don’t mean 6A.) One nutcase advocating one kind of violence (murder) and another nutcase advocating a different kind (virtual bookburning). Neither is worth reading.

  • You call me a “nutcase” because I advocate banning those who engage in anti-Semitic hate speech from my blog & from my blog provider’s hosted blogs.

    Not only is your comment intemperate, base and just plain stupid, I resent it.

    As you blog title “Tom Rants” indicates, you do indeed rant instead of listening carefully to those you don’t agree with.

    I thought when I ran across your threads in the wp forum that I was reading the posts of someone who was helpful & aimiable. Now I know better.

  • I’ve become acquainted with Mr. Silverstein’s writing a bit more over the past couple of weeks and while I still don’t agree with his post, my kneejerk “battle of the nutcases” reaction was a bit harsh (too him, not to the other side). From reading his blog, I know there are a lot of things we don’t agree on, but he is a thoughtful commentator and worth reading.

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