Wired: Quiet War Over Who Makes Online Money

At first glance, giant social media firms like Facebook, PayPal and Tumblr appear to be trying to block hate speech pornography from their websites. But the trend is not simple and suggests an ugly culture war is underway. After Reddit banned forums for incels, the men who identify as involuntary celibates are retaliating. The group distributes content policies of internet firms including social media platforms, online payment processors, web-hosts, domain registration and more – and members lodge complaints about sites that discuss or make money on sex. “The tactic has far-reaching implications beyond adult entertainment,” explains Paris Martineau for Wired. “Foreign governments and other groups have abused the policies to silence opponents on platforms like Twitter and Facebook for years. Attacking through the payment processors is a new wrinkle on that approach.” The storm of complaints is hitting publications and nonprofits like ThinkProgress. Some tech firms treat the numerous complaints as harassment, but others just pull content off line. Tech firms that once resisted censorship during the early years of the internet now routinely remove content. The companies cannot hire enough monitors and artificial intelligence cannot handle the onslaught. – YaleGlobal