The Politics Thread

[Maxim]

Thanks to that man winning the election and the far right parties all over the world getting their power and hopes up... I'll probably have to live my 30s in fear of maniacal homophobia. I can already feel the shift in Germany. It's not how it was couple of years ago... Or even... months ago. For the first time me and my husband actually feel looked at with contempt and the micro aggressions are hardcore. I don't even want to go into detail, but the last few weeks have been eye opening for us. I told him... The time for us to hold hands in public... Has ended. People are starting to get really aggressive and hateful and I'm scared. 

And reading this... Makes me even more scared. Apparently they can start calling us mentally ill again and I won't be able to report them.

https://people.com/meta-new-policy-lgbtq-people-mental-illness-8772793

 

 

[Contessa Donatella]

The Meta changes are alarming. And, it's really a mess because the Facebook mechanical censors recently have been notorious for censoring things that were harmless. Also, Facebook at least in the recent past has made it impossible to see what post was being called as the rule breaking post. Unfortunately it sounds like their response is to make things worse, not better. 

As one simple example, yesterday I made a post congratulating Steve Burton on his engagement & Facebook declined it as some negative of one of their community standards, specifically which of course unknown. 

And, thinking about the issue of gays & accusations of "mental illness", it was in 1973 that the American Psychiatric Association changed it so that being gay was not considered a mental illness. Does that mean that Facebook is turning back the clock 52 years? What kind of reverse progress does that represent?!!!

 

Edited January 11 by Contessa Donatella
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[Maxim]

It's incredibly disturbing. And they are doing this piece by piece... Slowly trying to reverse what we have achieved as a group. Slowly and quietly trying to rob us of our rights and freedoms.

[DRW50]

I wonder how all the "lgb without the t" people who insist if they play into transphobia, they will be spared feel about this. It blatantly says that homosexuality is nothing more than part of "political and religious discourse."

They hate us and they don't even need to pretend otherwise.

[Maxim]

Yep. And they are starting to be more and more direct about it. I remember years ago when we would go outside and (the worst case scenario) people would just turn their faces away when we held hands. Well it's 2025... and I realize... I prefer that turning of heads to the... more recent - staring with hatred thing and not turning the heads at all... but looking at us with aggression.  That is disturbing me. And all of this is being fueled by the far-right party that wants to use us for their political propaganda. And now the masks are falling and people are showing their true ugly colors. If someone had told me that I will be living through this... 4-5 years ago, I would have said - no, it's impossible... there is no way society is going to go back to that... but... here we are. Here we f-cking are. And I don't know if this gets worse what we'll do. Where we'll go. Sorry for the emotional talk. I just... feel so tired. I just want to live in peace and not get looks and anger pointed at me for just holding my husband's hand for 10 seconds. I want the basic freedom to be left at peace.  

[Liberty City]

[j swift]

The anti-Semitic dog whistles around the misinformation being spread on social media about the LA fires is disturbing, if not predictable.

Stewart and Lynda Resnick have spent a fortune donating to the arts and cultural institutions around Los Angeles.  They own Wonderful Pistachios, Pom Pomegranate Juice, and other agricultural endeavors.  As a result, their businesses use a ton of water.  However, none of the water has been misused to prevent the firefighters.  Their farms are hundreds of miles away.  On the news, we've watched helicopters grab water from the Encino reservoir, and planes grab water from the ocean to drop on the fire every 30 seconds since last Wednesday.

However, the concept of Jews hoarding resources during a time of national crisis is the same rhetoric that has been used historically time and again, and I am disgusted.  I don't pretend to know the intentions of those gossiping about the Resnicks, nor do I assume that they are aware of the historical references.  But, it is awful, and it makes me so sad that our culture succumbs to these conspiracies during times of national loss. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Spoutible has issued a press release about their response to what some other platforms are doing 

https://apnews.com/press-release/accesswire/spoutible-expands-ai-fact-checking-accuracy-alerts-as-other-platforms-abandon-verification

 

[Maxim]

This is good news. Thank you for sharing!

[marceline]

When Black women said we're done, we meant it. Michelle is showing the way.

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Edited January 14 by marceline

[Maxim]

Brava!

[janea4old]

The AP link was moved to this URL:
https://apnews.com/press-release/accesswire/spoutible-expands-ai-fact-checking-accuracy-alerts-as-other-platforms-abandon-verification-5e8f66c1685ad713f2be8a7d7f590054

[Contessa Donatella]

Thanks, Jane.

This represents the policy on moderation at Bluesky:

https://bsky.app/profile/atproto.com/post/3knqrsjeees23

[janea4old]

https://spoutible.com/thread/39648211

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And that spout goes to this "Accesswire" press release that AP published:
https://apnews.com/press-release/accesswire/spoutible-expands-ai-fact-checking-accuracy-alerts-as-other-platforms-abandon-verification-5e8f66c1685ad713f2be8a7d7f590054

Edited January 14 by janea4old

[Contessa Donatella]

I am encouraged that not everyone is taking a crazy dangerous position like Facebook seems to be doing.