The political threads are toxic because these operatives continue to pollute the discussion with "The US already...."
Until this is addressed, then yes we will point out this sort of activity.
Until this is addressed, then yes we will point out this sort of activity.
Using a phrase like "these operatives" without evidence is itself abusive. Accusations of astroturfing and shillage are a dime a dozen, and people aren't allowed to sling them around on HN. If you have genuine evidence of abusive behavior, please email hn@ycombinator.com so we can look into it. Invoking it as an argument tactic or a drive-by smear is not legit.
This stuff happens everyday. And if politics is toxic, then why not go back to the no politics rule permanently? Or if it's so toxic then just make it a free-for-all.
Nothing changes. Are there plans to make changes?
If there's actual abuse going on, obviously we need to know about it. We take such reports seriously, and on rare occasions find something. But I can tell you from long experience that there's almost never any there there—just people getting mad at each other and breaking HN's civility rule in a particularly smug way. This behavior is most common from accounts whose comments are generally unsubstantive.
The changes we're going to make are (a) adding the rule that you can't accuse other users of astroturfing or shilling without evidence—and an opposing opinion is not evidence, and (b) banning users who do it.
Just because some accounts abuse the site doesn't mean that other accounts get to sling uncivil accusations. That's an abuse in its own right and does more damage.
Other users have been abusive, and I'm scolding them too. But HN isn't a primarily political site, so please ply this stuff elsewhere, not here.
More and more, social media platforms have been telling me - or using their algorithms to tell me - that my opinions, as educated and well argued as they are, are not welcome on their sites.
I did not expect to see this from Hacker News. Indeed, after the experiment banning political conversation, I had thought that the opposite decision had been made.
And finally, to be clear, I use HN for far more than political chatter. I read the technical content, and use it as a general news feed (one of my many). I comment where I am inspired to. I did not realize how often that ends up being of a political nature. I care deeply about individual freedoms and the technology that enables and disables these.
Can we find a mechanism whereby my nationality is confirmed? I would like to do this for the sake of my own vindication, as well as clarity to those who were/are suspicious.
Please use HN as intended from now on.