Quick context: the extension allows you to see which profiles are supportive or transphobic and it wasn’t updated for 2 years.
I was worried it was abandoned. Hopefully we can get Ecosia and Lemmy supported and have it expanded it to cover racist/sexist profiles soon. I would like to donate to the developer if I could.
It is my favourite Firefox extension because it would protect you from seeing all the hate online and prevent unintentionally supporting a slimy transphobe😡 and it literally reveals to you people’s true colours.
2/10/2024
*support for blue sky
*updated bloom filter
*Fix colonization of Tumblr tags
This seems like a dystopic tool for exerting social control. Better not step outside the lines, or the algorithm will make you the wrong color. Will this comment itself turn me red?
My understanding is that it's rather strict. You basically have to explicitly be transphobic, saying shit like "you will never be a woman" or "trans is just a fetish." They don't tag someone as harmful unless they actually say harmful things.
IDK, I feel like I still feel like I don't agree with this approach. In fact, the entire name about "shinigami eyes" makes me think it's inspired by Death Note, an anime about a guy with a twisted and wrong sense of justice, using shinigami powers to kill people he thinks are bad.
E.g.
What if someone said things like this, had a conversation, then changed their opinion? Why should they have that struck against them forever?
Things can be easily misinterpreted, especially online through text. Are they talking about "never being a biological woman"? Having a uterus? Something else? Gender? Maybe they don't understand the difference. A lot of people don't. Mistakes are the first step toward understanding. Maybe they didn't understand something, or maybe they worded something ambiguously. It's easy to do.
I think if we want to change people for the better, than means talking with them, interacting with them, and helping them to change.
This isn't a moderation tool, it's effectively a communal way to remember usernames of people who've been abusive. Do you have the same worry about people blocking you for your past views? I've said awful, transphobic, homophobic, and racist things under past usernames (part of the reason I switched to Starman was to distance myself from the persona I had 15 years ago), and I'm sure some people rightfully blocked me when they saw those comments. Personally I would rather someone see a red username over a comment now that I'm an ally than not see my comment at all.
Like I said, they are strict. Unless you are unabashedly transphobic, you won't even accidentally say something that might get you tagged. Kind of like how a white person doesn't accidentally use racial slurs unless they're racist. You shouldn't have to worry about a video of you calling someone the n word going viral because you shouldn't be calling people the n word in the first place.
They are strict now, the slippery slope argument is that it won't stay that way. We've seen mod tools similar to this make mistakes. Twitch, Tumblr, YouTube, Facebook, etc all have algorithm analysis for moderation purposes and all of them have messed up and require additional human review.
Is there a mechanism in place to prevent malicious/fake reports?
Yes. While your overrides are immediately visible to you, changes are included in the publicly visible dataset only if they pass some trustworthiness criteria (including human validation).
I see no reason to believe that the human review criteria is going anywhere
I'd be interested in seeing this kind of setup - where volunteers tag others' speech and account - actually work. So often, nearly all of the time, I've seen it used as political tools in small squabbles; totally inappropriate usage, and it's hard to get those proverbial scarlet letters removed. I can only wish them the best.
I wouldn't trust it because so many people in the trans community tend to fly off the handle at any perceived slight against them. Can't even ask them questions without being accused of acting in bad faith. Especially if the list is created by user submissions, it seems like a really shitty social manipulation app.
the internet is just stuff on various computers, most of which are privately owned - imagine someone complaining that their free speech rights override your right to control your property, because you took down a note stuck to your door. "dystopic tool for social control" dude go meet your neighbors and make some connections that matter instead of worrying about forcing yourself onto as many strangers' screens as possible. so fuckin dramatic.
I am fine with anyone blocking me. I absolutely agree that doesn't somehow 'infringe on my free speech' or whatever.
My concern was about self censorship, social pressures, enforcing taboo within communities that would use tools such as this. I think the real victims of labelling 'good' and 'bad' people by color will end up being the members of the very communities that embrace this kind of idea. It does absolutely remind me of an episode of Black Mirror. I think it's a very 'dark path' kind of thing, whether people might find that dramatic or not.
"go meet your neighbors and make some connections that matter" - is pretty condescending. My neighbours are nice. Danish woman and a Polish guy. But then again, I can't see their 'color', so who really knows.
What self-censorship, social pressures, and taboo enforcement? The kind of person who will install this extension would not have done a transphobia if they weren't aware of it
You have a wildly inaccurate idea of what this extension is
You know what ? I have absolutely no faith in the community when these arguments are discussed. I've seen too many often people labelled as "transphobic" or "nazist" by someone just because they were not agreeing with something or had different ideas.
It is different, in that this doesn't even ban anyone. It's little different from just a group chat where people tell reach other "hey, this chick is a terf, you might wanna block her"
To anyone who might be moderating a report over me in this comment chain: I am pretty confident that among my many opinions on all sorts of things are some you would label transphobic.
I'm also strongly against what you're doing with this extension. I think therefore I deserve to be labeled as one of the 'bad people'.
Ok? If you want to get flagged, say something awful and transphobic or link to a comment where you did. Nobody is gonna flag you just because you're against the concept of this extension lmao