I Spent Some Time on White Supremacist Twitter
I recently found my way over to white supremacist Twitter because I saw a retweet of a story about one of the white supremacists complaining that they were banned from GoFundMe.
He kept whining and calling for a boycott, and urging “right wing people” and “Trump supporters” to join him. He tagged GoFundMe. Here’s how GoFundMe replied:
Silence. Because no one cares about white supremacists.
There are some people who believe that white supremacists, and similar groups, should be allowed on Twitter. Because free speech or because it’s good to keep an eye on those people.
I don’t share that opinion. For me, this goes back to “Dealing with Trolls 101.” Old school community stuff. Which is what GoFundMe did.
You don’t give shelter to these people, lest your platform become known for them.
You kick them off your platform. You don’t respond to them or their complaints. You starve them for attention. You drive them away.
You push them to Reddit or Gab or Stormfront or whatever platform wants them at that moment.
They exist, and they will always find each other, but you don’t have to give them a home.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s whack-a-mole. It always is. But it works. You can make a massive difference in how these people influence your platform.
Twitter shouldn’t be giving these people verified accounts. They should be banning them as quickly as they can.