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The problem I have with buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/how-the-alt-right-manipulates-disqus-comment-threads?utm_campaign=Revue%20newsletter&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_source=The%20Interface&utm_term=.lxzAYAA0PV#.ksDV7VVqP1 is that it doesn't really go into why this is more of an issue with Disqus than the idea of commenting on the internet in general (and there *is* a difference). Chronotope/1004007899302121472
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Like how does the network effect of Disqus across sites influence the success of hate campaigns on the Disqus platform? Is there algorithmic impact? Does the deep data about user accounts available to any site administrator make the platform more or less dangerous?
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Does Disqus have an organized stand-alone compliance or censor team? How does it deal with this in Germany or elsewhere outside the EU? What is the dynamic between reporting by users vs site administrators?
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If the site is a hate site and administrators of that site use the report function abusively what happens? Can Disqus shut down the commenting section of any URL remotely? What would happen to the data?
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Does Disqus report harassers to law enforcement? Does it preserve data for law enforcement? Has it been involved in law enforcement actions and what has occurred if it did? How does the data sharing involved with social log in effect Disqus and those social sites?
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The problem with this Buzzfeed report is that there are a huge number of things that make Disqus a different concern than 'good commenting system x'. But this article could be about Echo (if it still existed) with no changes. Serious questions are missing.
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And then there's a whole dimension of conclusions and extrapolations that would be helpful. What's the community, technical, and social impact of having a huge set of different commenting systems basically drop down to Disqus and Facebook?
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Is the nature of Disqus's take over of commenting on many many websites mean it is more responsible? Less?
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Did Disqus build process w/out anticipation for internal moderation actions & as a result created worse experiences? Or is their capability to work on these tools creating better experiences? Is that centralization good for law enforcement? Bad? Showing the need for other tools?