Voat Shutdown: Qanon and Anti-Vaccination Reddit Clone Shut Down on Christmas Day

[laylalex 7,284]

Quote

 

Voat, a controversial Reddit clone that hosted “politically incorrect” content and conspiracy theories like QAnon, has been shut down by its owner due to a lack of funds.

An investor “defaulted on the contract in March 2020”, site co-founder Justin Chastain wrote in a post announcing its closure, and as such the site lost “all of it’s funding.”

...

Voat launched in 2014 as an alternative Reddit platform dedicated to “free speech”, and as such allowed hate speech, racism, and other content that would be banned on more mainstream platforms.

It rose in popularity in 2015, when Reddit banned groups that promoted violence against women, and eventually others popularising racism

...

Since then, the website had reportedly been host to other antisemitic and racist content, and had apparently been approached by an unnamed US agency due to the large quantity of death threats made on the platform.

More recently, the site was a gateway to QAnon conspiracy theorists, who claim without any evidence that there is a covert operation to oust President Trump and that there is a secret sect of elite Satan-worshipping paedophiles in government, business and the media.   

 

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/voat-shutdown-christmas-qanon-reddit-b1779890.html

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

If it was so prominent how come I have never heard of it?

[laylalex 7,284]

I dunno, there's all sorts of things on here I'm told every day are "well known" and I've never heard of them. 

 

Also, not to be a pain, but where in the article does it say Voat was "prominent"? I did a Ctrl+F and found nothing.

[moxy 1,051]

Buh-bye Voat, you will not be missed.

[Steeleballz 7,550]

 

  Yet another site that uses protected free speech as a mask for disgusting hate speech. 

[Crtcl Rice Theory 2,432]

Parler is next.

[moxy 1,051]

7 minutes ago, CanAm1980 said:

Parler is next.

Yep. It's all "bastion of free speech just like the founders wanted" until they realize no company wants their ads associated with white supremacists and... well mostly it's the white supremacists. Don't let the door hit ya where the lord split ya, Parler.

[laylalex 7,284]

7 minutes ago, CanAm1980 said:

Parler is next.

I don't disagree with the concept of having more social media platforms than the dominant players. I don't *do* Twitter except to read tweets and to occasionally complain to companies about poor service. But we need more generalized players and fewer closed universe echo chambers in my opinion.

[laylalex 7,284]

2 minutes ago, moxy said:

Yep. It's all "bastion of free speech just like the founders wanted" until they realize no company wants their ads associated with white supremacists and... well mostly it's the white supremacists. Don't let the door hit ya where the lord split ya, Parler.

Now this is a genuine question -- why do you think it is that "bastions of free speech" that don't introduce restrictions tend to skew right over time? I mean, Reddit and Twitter both started out as "free speech" zones, but some brakes were eventually applied. Why aren't there any real analogues to Parler that are, like, full to bursting with AOC acolytes?

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

29 minutes ago, laylalex said:

I don't disagree with the concept of having more social media platforms than the dominant players. I don't *do* Twitter except to read tweets and to occasionally complain to companies about poor service. But we need more generalized players and fewer closed universe echo chambers in my opinion.

This is really true for the media and many high level people on the Left. There was a study done earlier this year that said that many of these people only talk to and read a small circular amount of people just like a bubble. That is why you see so many of them trying to act like what is said on Twitter is trending and reality because they never ever get outside their bubble of DC, LA, NYC, or SF group of people. 

 

 

It is really quite sad to be honest with you

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

27 minutes ago, laylalex said:

Now this is a genuine question -- why do you think it is that "bastions of free speech" that don't introduce restrictions tend to skew right over time? I mean, Reddit and Twitter both started out as "free speech" zones, but some brakes were eventually applied. Why aren't there any real analogues to Parler that are, like, full to bursting with AOC acolytes?

They started out that way but Reddit changed when they started taking Chinese money. Twitter been called out to their face on the Joe Rogan show and they kept spewing some ####### about "people not following the rules* but when confronted with the exact same scenario with people on the Left that are not suspended or censored they said nothing. 

[Crtcl Rice Theory 2,432]

2 minutes ago, Cyberfx1024 said:

This is really true for the media and many high level people on the Left. There was a study done earlier this year that said that many of these people only talk to and read a small circular amount of people just like a bubble. That is why you see so many of them trying to act like what is said on Twitter is trending and reality because they never ever get outside their bubble of DC, LA, NYC, or SF group of people. 

 

 

It is really quite sad to be honest with you

Why do you think this is restricted to  what you can the left.

[moxy 1,051]

2 minutes ago, laylalex said:

Now this is a genuine question -- why do you think it is that "bastions of free speech" that don't introduce restrictions tend to skew right over time? I mean, Reddit and Twitter both started out as "free speech" zones, but some brakes were eventually applied. Why aren't there any real analogues to Parler that are, like, full to bursting with AOC acolytes?

My personal theory is that the far-right need large groups, large audiences, and as much exposure to the "outside" world as they can, because they require conflict. A belief system that rejects fact-based and evidence-based conclusions, and is fed by conspiracy narratives, needs a large forum to construct a hive-minded echo chamber, and a large footprint to challenge all comers, especially those branded as the enemy, i.e. librul snowflakes, etc.

 

Whereas the far-left tend to form into smaller hive-minds. Think of anti-vax mommy groups on Facebook. They're just as nuts, but they don't need that large footprint to take on the enemy. They get their dopamine hits from reinforcing each others' conspiracy nuttiness. I think the far-left have also been around the internet a lot longer. You don't see a social media site for flat-earthers because they already have their blogspot and Worpdress presence since like 1990. The far-right are newcomers. Posting on Reddit is a lot easier than setting up a blog.

[laylalex 7,284]

You really don't want to see what the hive-mind of a knitting forum is like. Trust me. I was seriously mean-girled when I asked basic questions about cable needles.

[Cyberfx1024 7,980]

33 minutes ago, CanAm1980 said:

Why do you think this is restricted to  what you can the left.

No, I know some people on the Right like this as well. That is why I try to get outside of my bubble as much as possible so I can see what is actually going on. 

31 minutes ago, moxy said:

My personal theory is that the far-right need large groups, large audiences, and as much exposure to the "outside" world as they can, because they require conflict. A belief system that rejects fact-based and evidence-based conclusions, and is fed by conspiracy narratives, needs a large forum to construct a hive-minded echo chamber, and a large footprint to challenge all comers, especially those branded as the enemy, i.e. librul snowflakes, etc.

 

Whereas the far-left tend to form into smaller hive-minds. Think of anti-vax mommy groups on Facebook. They're just as nuts, but they don't need that large footprint to take on the enemy. They get their dopamine hits from reinforcing each others' conspiracy nuttiness. I think the far-left have also been around the internet a lot longer. You don't see a social media site for flat-earthers because they already have their blogspot and Worpdress presence since like 1990. The far-right are newcomers. Posting on Reddit is a lot easier than setting up a blog.

This much is true but they are routinely shutting down any kind of real conservative discussion there and using baseless accusations to shut them up.