A Troll Article Too Far?

UN Blasts Katie Hopkins "Cockroaches" Article

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A Troll Article Too Far?

#1  Postby Calilasseia » Apr 24, 2015 10:39 pm

Doubtless some have heard of the furore surrounding the fact that Katie Hopkins, in full-bore hate and bile mode, posted a column in The Sun in which she described Mediterranean boat migrants as "cockroaches", and suggested dealing with them using gunboats.

Well, she's now attracted opprobrium from no less a person than the UN Commisioner for Human Rights.

Jordanian Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said the reality television star had used language in her Sun column similar to that used by newspapers and radio stations in Rwanda before the 1994 genocide that led to hundreds of thousands of people being slaughtered.

In the wake of a capsizing in which 400 migrants are believed to have drowned, Hopkins wrote a piece entitled ‘Rescue boats? I’d use gunships to stop migrants’ in which she likened those feeling war-torn nations to “cockroaches” and called for them to be turned away with force.

Al Hussein urged authorities in the UK to use the law to clamp down on "vicious verbal assault on migrants and asylum seekers in the UK tabloid press", adding: "The Nazi media described people their masters wanted to eliminate as rats and cockroaches. This type of language is clearly inflammatory and unacceptable, especially in a national newspaper.

"The Sun's editors took an editorial decision to publish this article, and - if it is found in breach of the law - should be held responsible along with the author."


Whilst some here will think this merely allows her to wallow in a sense of self-importance way beyond her intrinsic worth, it's also worth noting that her recent language has been practically identical to that used by Julius Streicher in Der Stürmer. Not to mention that this sort of demonising of powerless, helpless people has been a feature of the right-wing press for several years now, and perhaps this is the moment when the otherwise indolent wake up to what is being printed and peddled as purportedly constituting their thoughts.
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#2  Postby Jerome Da Gnome » Apr 24, 2015 11:09 pm

A society which does not allow free expression is not a free society.
The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants, and it provides the further advantage of giving the servants of tyranny a good conscience.
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#3  Postby Fenrir » Apr 24, 2015 11:33 pm

A society which allows trolly trolls to mindlessly troll is a sick and depauperate society
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#4  Postby Jerome Da Gnome » Apr 24, 2015 11:46 pm

Fenrir, do you really want advertizing corp inc. manipulating behavior through the condemning of language?

Or are you advocating a more organic method of speech/thought manipulation?
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#5  Postby Fenrir » Apr 25, 2015 12:25 am

Neither. I'm advocating that you stop posting.
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#6  Postby Jerome Da Gnome » Apr 25, 2015 1:14 am

Do you think she should be fired, or jailed, .. or something else?
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#7  Postby Calilasseia » Apr 25, 2015 1:20 am

Jerome Da Gnome wrote:A society which does not allow free expression is not a free society.


So you'd be happy with a newspaper printing the words "Jews and niggers are vermin and should be exterminated"?

Enquiring minds would like to know.
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#8  Postby SafeAsMilk » Apr 25, 2015 1:23 am

Remind me to stay away from Jeromeland movie theaters, where screaming "Fire!" while the place is full is enshrined as a National Testament to Free Speech.
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#9  Postby Jerome Da Gnome » Apr 25, 2015 2:01 am

Calilasseia wrote:So you'd be happy with a newspaper printing the words "Jews and niggers are vermin and should be exterminated"?


Nobody has to buy it. It exposes who people are. Rather know a demon than not.

Extreme examples is how fascism is built.
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#10  Postby tuco » Apr 25, 2015 5:16 am

I dunno genocide? I know almost nothing about historical events in Rwanda, but its hard to imagine "trolls could cause it".

Jerome Da Gnome makes good point imo in sense that: why people even read it/listen to it? I mean, I would not or I would shake my head so those who read it and agree with it are more or less "as guilty" as those who come up with it.

Too far .. ideally there would no be such thing and people were allowed to express their minds freely. We do not live in ideal world but in world of idiots so I am not sure what to do. My general stance on "hate" is: say anything you like but the moment you pick rock to throw you gonna get creamed hard.
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#11  Postby quas » Apr 25, 2015 5:32 am

SafeAsMilk wrote:Remind me to stay away from Jeromeland movie theaters, where screaming "Fire!" while the place is full is enshrined as a National Testament to Free Speech.


What if there is actually fire inside a crowded theater? Are you supposed to keep quiet?
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#12  Postby SafeAsMilk » Apr 25, 2015 5:53 am

quas wrote:
SafeAsMilk wrote:Remind me to stay away from Jeromeland movie theaters, where screaming "Fire!" while the place is full is enshrined as a National Testament to Free Speech.


What if there is actually fire inside a crowded theater? Are you supposed to keep quiet?

For reals?
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#13  Postby Made of Stars » Apr 25, 2015 6:50 am

Jerome Da Gnome wrote:Do you think she should be fired, or jailed, .. or something else?

She should be prosecuted for hate speech, and if found guilty, subject to the appropriate disciplinary measures as determined by a properly constituted judicial system.

Sadly, we now return you to your regular programmed trolling from Jerome.
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#14  Postby Precambrian Rabbi » Apr 25, 2015 8:21 am

tuco wrote:I dunno genocide? I know almost nothing about historical events in Rwanda, but its hard to imagine "trolls could cause it".

Then it may well be worth you learning something about historical events in Rwanda, as the role of mass media, radio in particular, in exacerbating the massacres is pretty well recognised.

A google of any combination of the words "Rwanda" "genocide" "radio" "media" "propoganda" etc is likely to turn up something informative but, for an objective and succinct introduction, here's the abstract from the paper "Propaganda and Conflict: Evidence from the Rwandan Genocide":

This paper investigates the role of mass media in times of conflict and state-sponsored mass violence against civilians. We use a unique village-level dataset from the Rwandan Genocide to estimate the impact of a popular radio station that encouraged violence against the Tutsi minority population. The results show that the broadcasts had a significant impact on participation in killings by both militia groups and ordinary civilians. An estimated 51,000 perpetrators, or approximately 10 percent of the overall violence, can be attributed to the station. The broadcasts increased militia violence not only directly by influencing behavior in villages with radio reception, but also indirectly by increasing participation in neighboring villages. In fact, spillovers are estimated to have caused more militia violence than the direct effects. Thus, the paper provides evidence that mass media can affect participation in violence directly due to exposure, and indirectly due to social interactions.


Pdf link: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&ei=M0k7VZCkMY70aIKvgKgJ&url=http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/dyanagi/Research/RwandaDYD.pdf&ved=0CCMQFjAD&usg=AFQjCNG_Quj_H6edjxi_Clie7wkYLglfsA&sig2=jx7SSJv1z3YiIGGpeQ5XkA
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#15  Postby tuco » Apr 25, 2015 8:32 am

Aha but I do not think so. Katie Hopkins is nobody, certainly not mass media nor state sponsored.
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#16  Postby Precambrian Rabbi » Apr 25, 2015 9:16 am

tuco wrote:Aha but I do not think so. Katie Hopkins is nobody, certainly not mass media nor state sponsored.

:scratch: Your comment no makey sense.

The Sun is mass media and whether it is sponsored by the state or by a plutocratic tycoon is irrelevant to the (rather obvious) conclusion that widely publicised incitements to violence and dehumanisation of subjects can exacerbate and instigate instances of violence towards those dehumanised subjects.
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#17  Postby tuco » Apr 25, 2015 9:21 am

To you. To me it does not make sense to make any comparison to Rwanda. If situation in UK was like in Rwanda before genocide we had something to talk about. But that is not so. In such light, whatever some troll in this case neimand as Katie Hopkins says does not have much weight from where I sit.

Jordanian Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said the reality television star had used language in her Sun column similar to that used by newspapers and radio stations in Rwanda before the 1994 genocide that led to hundreds of thousands of people being slaughtered.


And? Your point being? Is your point that its dangerous to talk like that because it could cause genocide? I do not think so. For genocide to happen there are other conditions to be fulfilled first.
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#18  Postby quas » Apr 25, 2015 9:28 am

SafeAsMilk wrote:
quas wrote:
SafeAsMilk wrote:Remind me to stay away from Jeromeland movie theaters, where screaming "Fire!" while the place is full is enshrined as a National Testament to Free Speech.


What if there is actually fire inside a crowded theater? Are you supposed to keep quiet?

For reals?


Yes.
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#19  Postby chairman bill » Apr 25, 2015 9:34 am

Free speech - if she wants to spout her hate-filled bollox, she's free to do so in the privacy of her home. I fail to see why she should get to spout bile in a national newspaper. In this case, she's inciting hatred, something that The Scum, along with others in the gutter press (yes Daily Hatemail, I'm looking at you) have been doing for far to long.
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Re: A Troll Article Too Far?

#20  Postby tuco » Apr 25, 2015 10:29 am

If she was inciting violence and its against law I dunno what we talk about here. Let police handle it. There will be charges and possibly court which will decide whether or not something like that happened or what should be done about it.

To quote OP


Whilst some here will think this merely allows her to wallow in a sense of self-importance way beyond her intrinsic worth, it's also worth noting that her recent language has been practically identical to that used by Julius Streicher in Der Stürmer. Not to mention that this sort of demonising of powerless, helpless people has been a feature of the right-wing press for several years now, and perhaps this is the moment when the otherwise indolent wake up to what is being printed and peddled as purportedly constituting their thoughts.


While it may be interesting to some, so what? If she broke the law there are mechanisms to deal with her but if she did not what to say? I condemn such behavior! Alright its noted.
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