Have you noticed? Come closer, friends. This is happening under our very noses – flagging as a form of censorship.
Maybe you're not aware. Maybe you post beautiful pictures or delicious recipes. Maybe you talk about your cat.
But what if you have opinions? What if your world view is different from another's? Do you deserve to be censored for it?
More and more, certain types of people are being flagged for airing their opinions.
Flagging here is not the same as a thumbs up or thumbs down on Facebook or YouTube. Here, it impacts the content creator's wallet and, more importantly, their visibility. Get enough flags and your posts are hidden from view. Not only that, but it devastates your reputation score.
It seems as though some people are threatened by viewpoints that don't mirror their own. These childish, entitled souls go flag-happy in an attempt to silence the 'opposition'. Often, the victims are new Steemians trying to build a base on the platform. Cowardly flag-happy zealots target noobs knowing they are less likely to have a support network in place and knowing the noob has very little steem power with which to retaliate.
The onslaught of flagging works in a number of ways:
It damages the reputation, making them less desirable to other Steemians, effectively isolating or ostracising them from the community
It takes earnings away
It causes the post to be hidden
It demoralises and deters them from working on new content
It can cause them to adjust their content to avoid future damage
It creates an atmosphere of fear in the wider audience who witnesses what happens to anybody daring to express themselves
The result is that many Steemians will avoid writing honestly. It will inhibit people from expressing ideas or thoughts that are important to them. Instead, we'll end up with a mainstream, vanilla universe where everybody regurgitates 'safe' opinions, churning out fluff for fear of negative consequences.
I witnessed a conversation here where one person suggested creating a community bot (powered by its members) to flag posts that used meat or images of meat! Is that not censorship? Is this totalitarian terror tactic acceptable? Do you want to be flagged for sharing a picture of your Sunday roast dinner? Maybe you don't care about meat, but what if one of your opinions were next? What if a group targeted you for voicing those opinions, made you invisible?
For fear of drawing more negative attention to them, I won't tag the people involved unless they ask me to, but I will talk about their experiences and a bit about mine.
A few weeks ago I experienced a personal flag attack...
I wanted to get a conversation going on Veganism. To do this, I opened a legitimate contest which I promoted with my own money. There were SBD prizes up for grabs. The idea was to encourage vegans to share information on why they think veganism is the healthiest diet for humans. There was no malice behind it, just a desire to engage with that community and discuss the topic openly.
Naturally, my first tag for this post was #vegan.
Within a few days I noticed the post had been flagged. I wondered why because I hadn't broken any of the guidelines. So, I found the person who'd flagged me and asked them why. They said the reason was that I had used the wrong tag.
His opinion was that a post about veganism does not belong under the vegan tag (when written by the likes of me). He apparently read my mind and decided my intentions were less than honourable and flagged it for that purpose. He is a vegan and I'm an ex-vegan. He doesn't like when non-vegans use the #vegan tag to create conversations.
The tag #vegan does not mean 'vegan club'. It's a tag so that anybody interested in the subject can find relevant blogs on that subject. It seems this person wants to cleanse that tag of any content that does anything other than worship vegan ideology.
If I'm looking to buy a new car, I look at online reviews. What use would they be if only a swathe of glowing reviews were available and all alternative opinions hidden? The same goes for veganism. Not everybody searching that tag is going to be looking to go vegan. Some may be wondering why the vegan diet isn't making them feel wonderful or healthy. They may be searching for alternative information on veganism. And that's a legitimate reason to search for it. How can we present balanced information if some of it is to be hidden?
Regardless of your feelings on veganism (or any subject), I think this is an abuse of the flag system. The Steemit Etiquette Guide, by @thecryptofiend, offers clear guidance on the matter of flagging. Here's an excerpt:
- Don't flag content just because you disagree or don't like it … the flag issue is for posts which are harmful or abusive and should not be used as a dislike or downvote button. Don't like something? Post a comment explaining why or if you can't be bothered to do that or don't have the time move on.
I'm not the only one. Another Steemian is being flagged by a cluster of vegans for posting content that shows veganism in a less than favourable light. Every single one of his posts is flagged. Not because he's violating any of the guidelines but because he's not singing the praises of veganism.
I've witnessed others being flagged into oblivion for political reasons too.
Are their opinions not valid?
Is there something nefarious going on behind the scenes? Are there organised groups attempting to censor or discredit those who speak for an alternative narrative?
These people are flagging because they don't like what they're reading and they want you to shut up and go away. I see opinions I disagree with all the time. I'm an adult, however, and deal with this via discussion rather than smashing money from their wallets.
Freedom of speech is important. It is important to hear different points of view. If everyone's circling the same opinions how can anyone learn? Where is there room for evolution of thought?
Do you want to be told what to think? Do you want Steemit to become one big homogenous safe space where everybody parrots only 'acceptable' opinions? If so, we may as well all give up and return to Facebook and YouTube.
How dare they influence my choice of reading by casting invisibility spells on content they don't like. Surely I'm big and bad enough to decide for myself. And so are you! If they want to float around wearing earmuffs and blinkers and pretend they live in a world where nobody disagrees with them, let them use the MUTE button.
I'm tagging @enginewitty, @sircork, @patrice. As witnesses, I'm hoping you can somehow work on a way to tackle this problem.
Thanks for reading.
@AnjKara x
Other eclectic articles
Veganism is evil. Two of the best foods for human health are eggs and raw milk, and there is no reason why the chickens and cows cannot be perfectly happy! Therefore veganism, which discourages these two wonder foods, is detrimental to human health and actually hurts animals because of the "vegan swing" where malnutrition forces vegans to binge eat meat or be malnourished.
Hiya Airshi
I agree that raw eggs and milk are super nutritious. Great probiotics.
yay for happy cows and chickens :D
Thanks for your comment
Anj :)
This is something that I've been noticing on Steem for a while. When I first joined I thought that there was freedom of speech, but that changed once I learned about flags. In other places, downvoting or disliking may only hide the post, but in here you actually lose money and reputation and may have long-term consequences (even the inability to post due to a lack of bandwidth).
I've seen people censor and hide entire accounts because they were against them. All posts greyed out because they held a different opinion. They stop posting eventually, feeling bitter about the community.
Steem, being decentralized, filled with spammers, scammers, people with conflicting ideas (spam war, etc.), is definitely not designed to be a safe place. It's a place that is meant to be regulated by communities, but communities always seek to homogenize their environments to their own liking.
You seem to sugges that something can be done, but what could be done about it? Some hardfork with more freedom? I think that instead they'd look for less freedom to stop people like Haejin from posting so much, scammers from posting fake links and spammers from posting the same thing over and over everywhere. Those are on people's lips more than censorship, it seems.
Thanks Sharon. Great comments!
I agree, the negative consequences of being on the end of a flag attack can be devastating, resulting in people losing heart, censoring themselves or even withdrawing from the community.
Solution: remove flags altogether and encourage overly sensitive types to use the MUTE button.
Yes, everyone's raging about Haejin and other steemit celebs abusing the rewards pool. This makes front page news. As I see it, they invest a lot of money into steem and get a ROI, just as I do when I upvote myself or pay a bot to do it for me :P
Those that organise flag attacks on opposing opinions are doing it sneakily though, covertly censoring people. Hardly anyone is taking it seriously. Certainly there is a problem with this and it's growing. That's why I called on three witnesses. I hope they can discuss this and find a way to deter those that repeatedly flag in attempts to censor opposing voices.
Thanks for your brilliant comment.
Anj x
Woah hold your horses. The argument that you invested so it entitles you to get that maximal ROI is way off base. I'll tell you what happens if you take this to the extreme: blank posts voted optimally every 2.4 hours. The platform health as a whole needs to be taken into consideration here.
Such a platform needs to keep an eye on disproportionately assigned value.
Removing flagging is not the answer, unless it is paired with a change to how value gets assigned to a post to prevent dumb scenarios like this. And it's not that easy either because there are less obvious ways to do the same.
I wouldn't say I get maximal ROI Eon. I make hardly anything here :P
Definitely that extreme scenario would be a disaster for the platform and I think we each have a responsibility to create quality content that makes it desirable to passing readers.
If all the millionaires decide to power down and take their money elsewhere, doesn't that mean the value of steem will go down for all of us? What is the incentive to invest one's money if there is no ROI? You're the maths guy, so I trust your analysis better than my own here.
Well, yeah. But the ROI shouldn't be from the voting and post payouts as far as an investor is concerned. It should be from (1) value of platform increasing, (2) possible "dividends", which already occur in the form of assigning interest to shareholders.
Participation is a separate matter, and I think it makes sense to separate the two. They can of course gain some from doing so, but they should follow the same etiquette as everyone else in thinking about the platform health as a whole.
I absolutely agree that anyone invested should be considering the platform's health as a whole. Unfortunately, some are in for the quick kill and don't seem to have the patience to wait for its overall value to increase. That's how it works in the real world too for some investors. Make a quick profit while it's possible and get out when the mainstream jump in.
It's beyond my knowledge, solutions to the problem of shark investors.
Yes, but only if it's text :D!
Steemit can unhost your images as can any content hosting service you find. And here we are encouraged to use third-party software and we only store a portion of what we post.
Even your photo could disappear in a rampage of censorship. We'd be left, if not for my comment, without any idea of what it says.
Nicely said and written Sharon! BTW, I want you to join the Womens History Month contest. :p
As I mentioned in a reply to the post the flagging feature could be a self-policing way to punish people whose opinions are outside the platform norms in support of political correctness?
Just because you may or may not agree or disagree with a given posting doesn't mean you should flag them or download the post. Instead use the Comments section. That is what it is there for. Try presenting your argument for or against in a cordial fashion. Try using the golden rule people. You know. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. It really is that simple and easy. Besides all that you might get in to an real meaningful conversation or make a new friend even. (sigh) You can't fix stupid tho..
Thanks Spozone
That's what the comments section is all about IMO. Just some people are too cowardly to get stuck in with their opinions. They're scared of suffering the same abuse they so happily dish out.
yay for meaningful conversations :D
Thanks for your comment
Anj :)
I never have figured out the vegans anyway. Specifically, why is it they feel so compelled to cram their behavior down your throat and how cruel and evil you are for killing cows, goats, pigs, fish and other. It seems fascist / racist and a few other words. What ever happened to live and let live? I'm a master carpenter but I don't go out of my way to tell people how to build house or tell them how stupid they are for using the wrong materials or technique. Again it seems a biblical reference applies. Judge not lest ye be judged. Have a blessed day.
I remember that and really did not understand his/her point of flagging you. I've had a few episodes of being flagged for disagreement of tags too when I first came to the platform. As such, they were hidden and nobody ever read them outside a few loyal followers. One was a review on cloud mining, which I really didn't understand why I was flagged. It was perfectly legitimate and honest. Another was a risque (erotica) poetry book I put out exclusive to Steemit that got flagged to oblivion. Was NOT happy about that one at all. If you notice, I haven't written any poetry on here since. So yes, I think there needs to be some kind of accordance before a post is hidden from view, like a review panel perhaps, which I proposed to @timcliff and @jesta a few months ago when they were asking for suggestions on the upcoming hardfork. Maybe this will get seen and be a little louder :)
Thanks Enginewitty
I appreciate your comments on this. Sorry to hear you've had the same experience too. Nobody's immune, it seems. They were probably jealous of your skills. I hope you continue to write your poetry and share it. We should not let the censors win on this. We should be able to express ourselves openly without fear of invisibility.
I think a review panel would be a great start. So many of these flags are just personal vendettas or people disliking the general content for whatever reasons.
Thank you for resteeming this. I look forward to hearing more opinions on this and, fingers crossed, a good decision with the upcoming hardfork.
Cheers
Anj x
Good post!
As a newbie here it is good to get all the information'
Thx!
Followed!
You're welcome Hawtscc
What's your opinion on flagging? Do you think it's necessary for a community?
thanks for popping by and good luck with Steemit :)
Anj :)
I disagree with many of the ideas and opinions expressed on Steemit but I certainly wouldn’t like to see them being flagged. As you pointed out, if we don’t defend the rights of those who express views which oppose our own, we are creating the conditions in which our own views can be restricted in the future.
Besides, a refresher course on the other side of the argument is often a good idea. I must admit that I have changed my views on quite a few issues over the years.
Hiya Deirdyweirdy :D
Exactly! People ought to be worrying about whose opinion is next for the flag treatment. Yours might not be today, but when they've obliterated the political or nutritional faction, who's next.
Beware. You could be next!
Yes, looking at the other side of the argument is the best way to test your own opinions or beliefs or affiliations. Only a fool would want to close their minds.
Thanks for your brilliant insights.
Anj :)
Misusing flags is definitely a form of censorship and I commend you for touching on this issue.
I don't necessarily think removing flags is the answer, as there are definitely people on this platform who are blatantly abusing the rewards pool (I won't name names, but just go to the cryptocurrency tag to figure it out...).
People who are incapable of intelligent discussion, especially those within the 'conscious' community, are nauseatingly childish.
Thanks Colin
The cryptocurrency situation was one of the things that lead me to my conclusion on this topic. I've witnessed the flag wars having zero impact on the situation. Haejin still takes what he wants and so do many other whales.
The only people the flags seem to affect are the plankton or minnows who are being censored by bigger fish with an agenda to cover up information that conflicts with their own.
Lol @ conscious community. I hear ya (vom) :D
Thanks for your comments and insights
Anj :)
People who do not understand the importance of differing opinions are everywhere in life. If we all thought the same way the human race would have made a wrong turn thousands of years ago and would now be extinct. Believing that your way is the only way is a facet of extremism, especially when you use it to justify doing harmful things to others.
That said, this platform and the flagging feature does offer support for political correctness. If your prose ventures outside the plain vanilla guidelines of group-think acceptance you will suffer the consequences. Could this be considered an experiment in self-policing of a society.
I agree totally. It's extreme and it's got a very dark undertone. I don't like it, hide it from others! Who do they think they are?
Good point: self policing. It'll be interesting to see where it all leads, I suppose. Maybe more flag wars :S
thanks for popping by with your insights
cheers
Anj :)
Thank you again for your reply and upvote!
Wow. That really sucks. I mean, I know there is a thing such a 'flagging' but I stupidly assumed that it would be used to good, such as flagging actual spam and not just to quiet things that people simply didn't want to have to hear. That sucks. Great post, though. I wish I had some actual voting power to upvote you with!
Hiya @eroticabian
I think everyone thinks that when they're new. It's very confusing coz it looks the same as FB or YT.
Thanks for your support. Don't worry about the voting power lol. If you wanna ration your voting power (which is a good idea), you can use a slider on BUSY. If your VP goes too low it can prevent you from posting.
Even though I have seen "opinions" on here that I do not agree with in the slightest I have only used the flag ability once and that was because someone posted a picture that needed an NSFW tag without one.
Hiya insick
Yes, the flag option is apparently there to highlight people who are deliberately scamming the system.
For example: a vegan recipe using the tag #bitcoin is an example or hardcore porn without the NSFW tag. I still disagree with flagging though and think a decentralised platform should run without the flags.
Thanks for your comment
Anj :)
Well in the case of NSFW I disagree. Simply because just imagine you browsing steemit in public or around your boss if at work or not and suddenly a picture of a naked person poping up. However you explain it, it will impact the opinion people have on you and it would be sad if you had to stop browsing steemit in public.
Decentralized or not a group of people still gives themselves rules which everyone should abide by. The only difference is if the rules are made by more or less consensus or given by a certain group of people.
You make a great point, insick. This has happened to me in front of people I know. I just laughed it off and we all got on with our lives. What they think of me is their business, not something I worry about. Someone once sent me a dick pic which I opened in public too. It taught me to only click on trustable people when I'm surrounded by witnesses :P
Dunno if it's obvious yet, but I'm against any form of censorship :D
I don't think it is censorship if you are asked to simply proclaim the right topics for your post and not abiding by rules and being called out for it I don't consider censorship either.
Let's just try a little example:
A company is selling sweets. On the packaging it says chocolate eggs but inside are gummy bears. A paper now calls them out on it and their sales drop. Would you consider this a form of censorship because the freedom of the company is taken away to sell their gummy bears as chocolate eggs? (I am specifically assuming in this case that no consumer protection steps in and actually forces them to take the product off the market because that would be a kind of censorship if it was valid or not is a completely other discussion. I am just assuming that because the newspaper called them out their sales drop massively)
In my opinion this is what applies if you falsely tag a food picture as bitcoin related or don't tag NSFW content as such. Maybe the system needs to be changed meaning in which ways you are able to call someone out over such a thing but I think you should be able to.
Edit: also I wouldn't worry about NSFW pictures when I am around my friends we would look at them together but sometimes and especially me working at a bar I am around customers or my boss while I am not working and that wouldn't make too good of an impression.
Hiya insick
I have no problem with people calling out that sort of issue in the comments. I have no problem people muting that person for being deceptive. If enough people started muting abusers, they would soon run out of audience. I have a problem with other people deciding my content for me (using censorship).
Gummy bears/chocolate eggs: the paper can call them out (just like in the comments section), but if they somehow found a way to hide the product from the consumer, they are taking the role of censors. Besides, a savvy public would soon gossip about the misleading confectionery and the company would either have to adjust its marketing strategy or risk going out of business. Just as a misleading blogger here would if he were to continue duping people into sampling his product.
I used to manage people. If I caught any of them on their phone when they were supposed to be working I'd call them out on it whether the content was NSFW or not :P
Cheers
Anj :)
We always say we are entitled to our own opinion but when they find something unbearable for them to read or hear they attack right away or find it offensive especially when it is out of norm.
I think going out beyond the norm can be an uncomfortable but if you take that in as an added knowledge that can be at your advantage or you can even voice out your thoughts as well. Unfortunately, here on Steemit they take advantage of the flagging button to do that.
Thanks Dawn
Yes, people would benefit so much from just opening their minds and reading things that don't necessarily mirror their own world view. Unfortunately, some people have the emotional intelligence of pond slime and think they can flag when they feel offended by opinions. It's a shame for humanity really.
Thanks for your comment
Anj x
:) Always happy to get your point of views good or bad (and if I had time to read them all). Lol The religion posts I wasn't able to catch up! It was pretty long! ^^
Lol I hear ya. It's so much reading innit. I can't always get around everyone's posts. Especially when the kids are on the school hols.
The best i do is to stay away to avoid getting a share of the fire.
Hiya Inspiredgideon1
That's why flagging is a problem. People avoid the conflict by avoiding the subject. You could be censoring yourself to prevent unwanted attention from flaggers.
your opinion matters!
thanks for your comment
Anj :)
I enjoy your engaging post on this! I agree that flags can be harmful, especially if used to silence another opinion. I wonder, and will continue wondering in hopes of a solution, how we might remedy this issue, because on some levels flags are important to spot abuse of the platform, especially through plagerism.
Who decides what deserves to be flagged however? Could we delay the flagging for review? I am not sure! It is an interesting issue though and one that reflects the macro/worldwide issues at play. How can we learn to work together and figure things out peacefully when everyone has their own opinion? Sadly, consideration of others and common sense are not the norm. It is indeed an issue we will need to figure out! I think the dispersing of the whales power also will help.
Hiya Skycae
I see people's worries about plagiarism but there is the cheetah bot that locates and highlights this to other users. Steemcleaners too, I think. People can see this and then make a decision whether or not to MUTE the abuser, if they choose.
At the mo, anybody can use flags. And, as we know, some people can't be trusted to hold a sharp pencil, let alone the power to diminish someone's earnings.
Ah, the whales' power. That's another issue. I think there are people already discussing that. On the whole, though, the entire community is gonna be affected by flagging. Censorship must stop if this community is to become anything other than a FB or YT safespace clone.
Thanks for your comment
Anj :)
Freedom, and in this case, free speech, is sometimes going to be ugly, chaotic, and in some cases even malicious, but that is far better than the alternative. It is better to live in a world where these things exist than in one where there is censorship and regulation.
I'm constantly amazed at how, as we increase censorship, it is blatantly obvious how much darker and more hateful society is becoming; yet, instead of looking at this and correcting course, we are doubling-down on this lie and descending further into madness.
Thanks Millennialnow
I agree totally. We are all gonna see/hear things we don't like whether in here or in the real world. It's much more offensive (to me anyways) to have an outside source determine what I can look at.
Yes, it's scary to imagine where this could lead.
Thank you for your insights.
Anj :)
I’ve yet to see anyone who’s agreed that flagging them is legitimate. Spammers insist they’re not spamming. Plagiarists insist they have permission to post others’ content. People spouting hate speech say that it’s not hate, it’s the truth.
Etiquette may suggest that you shouldn’t flag things you disagree with, but there’s a strong tendency here for people to use their stake as they see fit. Of course, they run the risk of being flagged for doing so.
Hiya @preparedwombat
I've seen some agree to their flag. They're usually new and hadn't realised they were making a mistake. Certainly there's an element of subjectivity. What one considers hate speech, another considers truth.
We are in danger of creating a muffled, muted society, squirming in a safe space.
I think we should remove flags. If people don't like the content provided by someone they think is hateful or a spammer or whatever, they should just use the MUTE button. They can then create their own personal safe spaces and skip around, wearing earmuffs and blinkers, in their happy fluffy alternative reality where nobody ever says anything they disagree with.
Thanks for your insights
Anj :)
Yeah, looks like people can't be trusted to follow proper etiquette. This kind of flagging behavior absolutely should be called out. And what kind of platform this is will depend on such people correcting this childish behavior.
Don't really see many solutions. All depends on the character and examples set by those with influence.
Thanks Eon
We all have influence. Some more than others. If people decide they don't want this type of system, they can change it.
I personally hate the flag system. I think it's too easily abusable. People with fat wallets can crush their weaker opposition. I like the MUTE button. That makes more sense to create a personalised experience that blocks content you'd rather not see.
cheers
Anj :)
Very nice! Great work and where is my shout out ... buahahhah
I hope the witnesses come to help!!
since we have talked about this extensively over at least a month' time, that is all for now.
love,
SAVeag = SAVAGE Eagle Buahahahaahah
Looks like you sorted out your own shoutout XD
Nah not really but that’s okay it was in fun.
interesting blogs and posting i like have a nice day
Thanks Angeltirado
What do you think will be a good solution to the problem?
cheers
Anj :)