Bonum Certa Men Certa

Censorship in Eklektix's Linux Weekly News (LWN)

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Jul 23, 2024

Beautiful medieval dancer

Medieval system of speech, where the monarchs (Linux Foundation) dictate what's permissible to say

LAST week the LWN site became more censorious than it had already been for years. Steven Vaughan-Nichols wrote about the reason, having already covered it in January 2023. We prefer not to touch the politics of the matter (this happened in our IRC network already) and all related coverage is assembled here. Instead we want to talk about the censorship.

As we noted here before, when trans people spoke out in support of Richard Stallman, refuting the accusations that he was "transphobic", the editor of LWN jumped in and expressed anger (see screenshots at the bottom). As if it's not OK to defend an innocent. This editor works for the Linux Foundation (part time) and it didn't seem to bother him that someone had been wrongly accused. In his coverage of Daniel Pocock he did more or less the same, but at least he occasionally mentioned Pocock winning legal cases.

In recent months LWN publicly said - on numerous occasions in fact - that it was exploring a way to overhaul the commenting system to suppress/censor "unwanted" comments, openly admitting there was an "issue" and that in order to be more "advertiser-friendly" (or subscriber-friendly) it'll need to silence people. That would make LWN more of a filter of views, where the filtering is dictated by the editors, notably Jon (Linux Foundation). So that's just something to be aware of and keep in mind when reading LWN comments. Social-engineering by elimination of people/viewpoints is social control media ballpark.

The latest:

LWN editor: This has gone far enough. I've just turned on moderation for comments on this article; the bar for future posts will be high.

This has history to it (same editor):

The war on free software continues, this time with an attempt to “cancel” the founder of the free software movement and to coup the board of FSF. And as a transgender person, it disgusts me much that some people try to use us as a weapon against free software, by falsely accusing one of our biggest allies of transphobia, when in fact there is none. No, Stallman hasn’t “spent years on a campaign against using people’s correct pronouns”, there literally wasn’t such campaign. In fact, the cited GNU Kind Communication Guidelines literally advocate respecting people’s gender identity, and trying to twist them into something opposite is disingenuous and done with bad faith.

This was the editor's reaction:

LWN editor: This is exactly the kind of comment I asked you not to post. We have been over this ground. Stop here, now.

It seems quite patronising; he tells trans people what they can and cannot say about trans issues. It's "wrongthink" to say anything that defends RMS. This is how intellectualism dies.

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

Frequent Flyers of the 'Lolita Express' (Where Screwing Underage Girls is Big Business)
In the words of Bill's wife and mother of his 3 children
How "Open Source" Became Microsoft (But It's Actually Proprietary, OSI is an Openwashing Front Group Now)
They're still trying to rewrite history, but it's harder when Richard Stallman (RMS) is alive
Microsoft-Sponsored Inauguration as a Reminder to Boycott Microsoft
If you do not support what's happening politically right now in the US, then stop giving money (or anything else) to Microsoft
Fund-Raising for Initiative Introducing Teens to Free Software Instead of Junk Like Bytedance's TikTok
A crowdfunding campaign coming soon
The Fall of Corporate Media Controlled by Oligarchs Who Boost (or Are Compelled to Boost) Reckless Lies About the Poor While Normalising Rich People's Crimes
No wonder they have layoffs
 
Gemini Links 25/01/2025: Plaintext Weblog Posts and Software Development
Links for the day
More Details Emerge About Upcoming Long-Rumoured Layoffs at IBM
Without leadership there's no coordination
Links 25/01/2025: Microsoft Chaffbot Offline and Advocacy/Dissent in China Muzzled
Links for the day
Bringing Down or Taking Down an Innocent Man is Difficult
One positive thing about all this is that we've come to witness (and meticulously document) how social control media works for the mob
Plagiarism at LinuxSecurity.com, Piggybacking Other People's Hard Work and Googlebombing "Linux"
They are googlebombing Google, and worse yet, they leverage bots to do this
Gemini Links 25/01/2025: Pictographs, Non-voters, and Frustrations
Links for the day
Links 25/01/2025: Microsoft Already Shutting Down Its UK "Experience Centre", "AI Deal" Linked to Atrocities
Links for the day
Red Hat is Required to Promote Microsoft's Proprietary Stuff and Even Produce Puff Pieces (Mindless Fluff) About It
Notice the aspect of bribed "media" or "news" or "press coverage" (pay-to-say)
The Limits of Freedom
This is generally not a new problem
IBM Layoffs (or Replacement With Low-Cost Labourers) Far Greater Than Reported by IBM
they serve to confirm what we've long said not only in relation to IBM but also Microsoft
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, January 24, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, January 24, 2025
Rumour of IBM 'Bloodbath' in Clown Computing
Performance Improvement Plans mean one step ahead or before layoffs
Dr. Andy Farnell: "Richard Stallman Chose to Stand For the Rights of People to Use Technology as They Wish. He Chose Freedom Instead of Riches."
Keeping busy in public transport
(Live-)Stream of Richard Stallman's Latest Talk in Europe (No Longer Live)
The latest public talk and Live-Streamed schedule were announced early on for the public to know about
Gemini Links 24/01/2025: Drehgriffel, Computer Science and Capitalism
Links for the day
Microsoft Lost a Ton of Market Share in Web Servers Last Month (the Last Month of 2024) and Massive Losses Continue in 2025, Shows New Report
Microsoft down sharply
Richard Stallman is Already in India, Giving Talks About Microsoft Chaffbots and More
he's already giving some talks in India
Microsoft (Nick Vidal) and Co-opting "Open Future" With Microsoft-led "Open Source AI Definition" (Openwashing LLM Slop and GPL Violations)
Microsoft is tainting all sorts of groups via the OSI
Drunk on Chatbots, LinuxSecurity.com Spews Out More LLM Slop About "Wine"
They just keep googlebombing "Linux" and "Security" using slop
Gemini Links 24/01/2025: The "Hey Hi" Hype Continues Fading, Tesla/X/Twitter/SpaceX Associate With Nazism
Links for the day
Robbery at the European Patent Office (EPO), Office Staff as 'Prisoners'
publication from the Central Staff Committee, dated yesterday
Techrights in 0.036 Seconds
Combining Gemini and HTTP/S, yesterday we served an impressive number of requests
BetaNews Run by Plagiarism Bots That Googlebomb (for SEO) "Linux"
Google rewards and thus encourages plagiarism
Microsoft, IBM, and Front Groups That Advance Racism for Profit
IBM has profited a lot from racism and it still does
FOSDEM and 'No Nazis'
the issue isn't wealth but principles
IBM Titles Considered Worthless and Many IBM 'Fellows' Are Vanishing (Also: IBM Staff Inside Linux Attacks the Rights of Computer Users for Recognition or Rewards Like "Distinguished Engineer")
James Bottomley is still "a Distinguished Engineer at IBM"
Gemini Links 24/01/2025: "Social" Control Media is Unsatisfying; An Old Call for a Gemini Without TLS
Links for the day
[Meme] Levels of Outrage
Apparently it's hip for criminals to leverage "the law" to silence their exposers
Links 24/01/2025: Earthquake, Landslide, and Official Implicated in Airplane With Landing Gear Issues (Boeing Plane) "Found Dead"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, January 23, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, January 23, 2025
CDN Giant: Microsoft Bing and Skype Collapsed Since the LLM Hype, Same as Other Metrics Show
No wonder Microsoft managers suffer anxiety and there are several waves of layoffs even on the same month
Gemini Links 23/01/2025: Experience With Outer Wilds and Gifting a Site
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Fake 'Articles' About Linux by Brian Fagioli and by Brittany Day in BetaNews and linuxsecurity.com (LLM Slop Sites That Are Online Leeches or SEO Operations Working Against Free Software Journalism)
Two new examples for today
Links 23/01/2025: More Overt Constitutional Violations and "TikTok Executive Order" (White Flag to CCP)
Links for the day
Status of New Year's Resolutions
3 weeks later
"The AI Bubble is Popping", Now It's Bailout Time
The hype will quietly fizzle, just like "blockchains"
[Meme] When the Government of the Netherlands Participates in Your Crimes It Lacks an Incentive to Hold You Accountable for Crimes
the EPO's corrupt management boasted (on television) that it would ignore rulings against it even if issued by the highest Dutch court
Links 23/01/2025: US Constitution Already Besieged (Impeachable Offences Pile Up), Arrest Warrant for Assad
Links for the day
Microsoft's Head of Business Development Quits (Days After Two Large Waves of Mass Layoffs)
We recently learned that people close to the management are very stressed this month
[Meme] Reliable Sources
Sooner or later LLMs swallow up their own lies (that they generated), which means that over time those things will only deteriorate further, exacerbating an already-large misinformation pandemic
BetaNews Plagiarising Work in the Linux Space
The originals won't even be listed
Gemini Links 23/01/2025: US Politics and DevOps Career
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, January 22, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, January 22, 2025