Why are posts supporting Russia banned on HN?

11 points by 5ESS ↗ HN

39 comments

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To use a harsh example, posts telling people how to beat up minorities will fare worse than those telling how to recover from, prevent or endure it.
Why are dissenting opinions forbidden here?

They’re not. Try harder?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30105090

Maybe it’s just that nobody here is interested in your opinion.

You can’t downvote posts - only flag them. “Taken down” happens automatically with enough flags, I believe.

If you put some work into differentiating yourself from the average internet troll, perhaps you’d have more success here.

A dissenting opinion does not infer it’s a valid opinion. Unprovoked military actions and war crimes don’t require debate over merit.
It sucks that your post was taken down.

I’m very curious what sort of aid you were requesting.

Were you seeking support for the Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine? Or was it a group fighting for LGBTQ rights in Moscow?

Maybe something less obvious … raising money for the families of Russian “orphans and widows” or “healthcare for Russian veterans.”

Don’t answer these questions. You’re not allowed to tell me. This information is forbidden.

I thought politics in general was frowned upon at least to some degree. Supporting wars of aggression strike me as appropriate for different websites…
> Calling it a war of aggression is a subjective opinion

In the way that gravity is subjective.

But gravity is subjective.
> gravity is subjective

As, apparently, is which side is rolling tanks and firing missiles into the other’s capital.

Gravity is relative, not subjective.
I wish more people saw the world not as a win/destroy or lose game, but an environment where people simply cooperate in peace.

For as long as the former view is dominant, it seems destruction and pain won't stop.

Liberation into a kleptocracy ruled by dictatorship. Gosh darn I wonder why your “contribution” to HN is rejected, it’s a mystery to be sure.
I personally see it as, at best, an effort to impose finlandization on Ukraine. At worst, it’s a major step to reconstitute the ussr. Potato, potahto, eh?
>> Calling it a war of aggression is a subjective opinion. I personally see it as a war of liberation from globalistic western tyranny.

It would seem that most Ukrainians disagree with your subjective opinion.

Maybe spend more time hanging out on a site that isn't primarily made up of westerners.
Let’s see if you still feel that way when your next paycheck doesn’t arrive.
Theory: the general consensus within the community here is that the leaders of Russia (not the populace, but the leadership) are acting in ways that are internationally risky and harmful.

Although some of the measures that are being taken against Russia are likely to cause discomfort and perhaps harm to the civilian population there, the community here believes that they are necessary currently in order to put pressure on problematic leadership.

The way that manifests is that some/many users will flag and/or downvote posted content that supports Russia.

What's to stop Russia doing influ-ops or sybil attacks[0] on various social platforms, including Hackernews?

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sybil_attack

Well, to look for a contrapositive: I'll get back to you after I discover a message (on any platform) sent by an entity that doesn't have a history to draw on that affects its' perspective. Don't hold your breath too long.
Regardless this place is really feeling like a Neocon pep rally circa 2003. Suspiciously dang seems nowhere to be found despite the constant unsubstantive nationalistic flamebait being posted in every Ukraine/Russia related thread.
Ukraine is a worthy underdog with a dog at it's throat. Putin, well he is the dog...
Will you support Russia when they invade your country?
I don’t think the US is a good place to live or to work. In fact I’ve been miserable ever since living here. It’s a depressing place with no semblance of justice. I can’t say that I wouldn’t support a regime change here.
Gee, half of the us thinks Putin’s a great guy and a model on the world stage. You must be living in a blue state…. Just move to a red one!
I live in a red one and did not met someone who supports putin, yet.
I think you're correct that the typical GOP voter does not support Putin[1]. There are very visible GOP figures that support Putin and/or the annexation of Ukraine though:

- Tucker Carlson[2]

- Rand Paul[3]

- JD Vance[4]

Unfortunately actual voters often get drowned out by all the screaming in the media.

1. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-gop-is-still-largel...

2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/02/23/tucker-carls...

3. https://www.courier-journal.com/story/opinion/2022/01/26/ran...

4. https://twitter.com/JDVance1

They shouldn’t as they spent like 70 years not supporting him but the orange guy likes him and that skews things, and it makes Biden look bad, so…
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>I can’t say that I wouldn’t support a regime change here.

We allow that every 4 years.

Much of the pro-Russia content posted in the West is part of a disinformation war being waged by Russian state actors.

There certainly are people stupid/ignorant enough to believe Putin's invasion was provoked, but it's more likely to be part of a state campaign instead.

The vast majority of humans aware of this conflict (including in some Russian-allied countries) are opposed to the invasion, so we would expect English-majority websites to reflect that ratio absent manipulation.

HN is a product of an USA company, USA being a country that acts like they were the ruler of the world.

You should accept the US world's vision and adopt its mindset or being banned, ostracized, canceled, whatever.

In the US vision, wars are something bad only if it's not aligned with US interests or isn't executed directly by US. In this particular case, Russia invading Ukraine goes against US interests.

In short, US give to themselves the rights to do whatever they want to achieve their goals, including wars like in Iraq and Afghanistan, while condemning everybody else that try to do the same. You should accept or face the consequences.

Advocacy not offering novel, intellectually-inspiring content is generally off-topic here.

I don't know what specific posts you are concerned with, though.