[jefe_]

It's interesting to me that the demand for Parler was almost exclusively the result of policies enacted by other social media platforms. Perhaps there was merit to the notion that letting groups operate in a contained area of larger platforms would have been favorable to outright bans. This would allow the larger platforms to monitor engagement, control spread, and quietly respond as they desired, no one the wiser. Instead they made very public proclamations of content restrictions and bans, which escalated some casual participants to more engaged participants. These participants then gathered on a new platform that promised the ability to say anything, so they started saying anything. But then some people started to believe anything. And then the beliefs turned into action, and then it became a real problem. But the outcome is in no way surprising. What is surprising is that the response now is the same response that started it all, more public bans and content restrictions. It's trivial to start a social media app (especially when security is not the priority), so in a few months another app will pop up, and it too will get out of hand, but what then? It seems like policymakers and thought leaders aren't thinking long term and are doing nothing to look at underlying issues.

[cactus2093]

Sounds like you're arguing for more of an approach of placating them, giving them a platform and trying to listen to them as misunderstood victims.

Seems to me like that's exactly what the rest of the country has been doing this whole time. For years everyone went along with the fringe right and placated them. The mainstream media covered Trump closely. Talked to his supporters to try to understand them. The more mainstream Republicans have backed up all the things Trump has done and said until now. Facebook got tons of flack the last 4 years for not silencing them sooner. Now it has escalated to dangerous levels of inciting violence that actually came pass, which has led to a stronger response. But you're arguing for continuing to go along with them? Why should we expect that continuing down the path we've been on for years would reverse the trend of them getting more and more extreme?