this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
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Malicious Compliance

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People conforming to the letter, but not the spirit, of a request. For now, this includes text posts, images, videos and links. Please ensure that the “malicious compliance” aspect is apparent - if you’re making a text post, be sure to explain this part; if it’s an image/video/link, use the “Body” field to elaborate.

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[–] Imotali@lemmy.world 247 points 1 year ago (12 children)

Mod here. Just want to openly and unequivocally state... I will remove your comment if you're transphobic. I will refer to trans people to let me know if you are being transphobic. I will ban you if you make an egregiously off colour comment. and I will take pleasure in doing this. Fuck your transphobic bullshit, go somewhere else. Nobody wants you here.

[–] SuddenDownpour@lemmy.world 76 points 1 year ago

Cis guy here. Based mod.

[–] wanderingmagus@lemmy.world 48 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks for everything you do to keep this community safe. I know it can't be easy.

[–] Imotali@lemmy.world 51 points 1 year ago (1 children)

idk, I just got to yeet like at least a handful of transphobes into oblivion so.... was pretty fun.

[–] BewilderedBeast@mander.xyz 27 points 1 year ago

It's important to find work that also nourishes your soul.

[–] Che_Donkey@lemmy.ml 26 points 1 year ago

Fucking A right. n

You are amazing, brave people and deserve a place in society where you are loved . M

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

Thank you so much!

[–] DharmaCurious@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago

God bless it I fucking love lemmy! 😄

[–] macintosh@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

Uhhh???? Based??????????

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Thank you for not being reddit.

[–] DCLXVI@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago
[–] Pokethat@lemm.ee -3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Bruh, just do your job/hobby. Mods acting high and mighty is a big part of what made reddit so toxic.

[–] Imotali@lemmy.world 26 points 1 year ago

This is my job: to make perfectly clear what is and isn't allowed. In no uncertain terms I will make sure this place is as free from transphobia as possible.

[–] gunnm@monero.town 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The good thing about Lemmy you can move to another instance with free speech.

[–] Imotali@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is free speech. They get to say what they please. They are not free from the consequences of those words however. I, as a private citizen and not a governmental actor, can censor them.

[–] gunnm@monero.town -5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I disagree, free speech means the right to express any opinions and ideas without censorship or restraint even if you find them offensive.

You said you will remove any comment that is transphobic and ban if "you make an egregiously off colour comment".

That is not free speech, and it's ok. Your instance, your rules.

[–] Imotali@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

They can say what they want without restraint or restriction. They are not free from the consequences of their words.

They can say what they like. We can ban them if we don't like it. That's how free speech works in a consequentialist society (modern Western society is a synthesis of consequentialism and contractualism).

[–] gunnm@monero.town 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Censor and banning opinions and ideas you don't like is anti free speech.

[–] Imotali@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You were allowed to say it. I'm allowed to remove it. Welcome to the world. Don't like it? Leave.

But also: nobody in the world actually likes the idea of absolutist free speech. The founding fathers certainly didn't believe in such an idea.

[–] elbarto777@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Friend, I appreciate your mod efforts, and I support 100% what you're doing here.

Having said that, I think there is a misalignment in terms of free speech definitions.

What I think you're saying is that people are free to express themselves, and the government (in the U.S., Italy, Argentina, wherever) will not censor you for that. However, a consequence of that is that you can ban them. Fair enough.

But people are not referring to the free speech in the country, region or whether. They're specifically referring to the exercising of free speech in the community you are moderating. You're saying that "there is free speech here," then it follows that transphobic comments should be allowed (something I wouldn't like because fuck transphobes.) But since you remove comments that don't align with the community, then the community doesn't have free speech - and that's okay. I'm just referring to the contradiction: "you're allowed to say what you want, but I will ban you if you say this or that" - welp, that just means that "this or that" is not allowed.

I think that's what the other commenters are saying. They're not criticizing you for removing comments. They're calling out that removing comments (as a consequence of speech) and claiming that there is free speech, well no, technically it isn't.

[–] Pokethat@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

Well yeah, but they expect people talking nonsense to get pummeled in the court of public opinion

[–] Pokethat@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That's literally not free speech. If I say I like to eat broccoli every day and that people should try it for health reasons and you're some kind of carnivore mod and it tickles you the wrong way and you block me for it... That's censorship and the opposite of free speech.

You're telling me that you control the narrative. Now there's nuance to censorship for sure, but you're telling me that if you don't like what I say I'm out. I have to type within the confines of the bubble of what isn't too uncomfortable for you.

I say let the downvotes do the talking. If I go on the electric vehicles instance talking about how (non-ironocally) I love to roll coal and how that's what's keeping me from trying EVs, I expect to be downvoted into the shadow realm. And that's ok. What I'm not ok with is a mod assuming that my voice sucks and that I don't deserve to be heard. Maybe some smart lemmier(?) will point out some doodad that makes a brrr noise and shoots out some harmless mist or something.

[–] david@feddit.uk 4 points 1 year ago

You have the right to be an asshole. Mods have the right to ban you for being an asshole.

Making out that they're nasty for having some standards of behaviour in their area is calling good bad and bad good.

(Censorship is when local or national government put you in prison for protesting or ban your book or ban your ideas. That's when your free speech rights are being infringed.)

[–] Karabola@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Where and when in the history of ever has there been consequence-free speech? How is this definition at all useful to you? People have always had the ability to define our own social spaces with rules of conduct, why is this any different just because the social space is online?

[–] Captain_Waffles@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Free speech is about the government not being able to restrict your speech. Guess what? Lemmy isn't the government.

[–] gunnm@monero.town -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Lemmy is a protocol so there can be instances with free speech even if you don't like it.

[–] Captain_Waffles@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This makes no sense in reply to my comment. Free speech is about the government, changing Lemmy instances won't change the fact that Lemmy is not the government. My opinion, views, etc have nothing to do with this. As far as free speech is concerned a community would be free to remove trans positive comments if they so chose.

[–] gunnm@monero.town 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I disagree free speech also applies to institutions, social or cultural norms and platforms as Lemmy.

[–] Captain_Waffles@lemmy.world -3 points 1 year ago

You disagree that Lemmy is not the government? I'm talking about law here, not opinions.

[–] Mediocre_Bard@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Censorship and restraint from the government. This isn't that, so the consequences are not covered.