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Jordan Peterson is launching Thinkspot, a “free speech” platform where his fanboys can downvote posts they dislike and make them vanish

By David Futrelle

Jordan Peterson, the sulky alt-lite celebrity professor who likes to sue people who disagree with him, has announced the imminent arrival of his new Free Speech Social Media platform Thinkspot, which promises to be the freest free speech venue in human history except that you have to pay for it and if you say something that offends the Peterson fans and oft-banned alt-right weirdos who will likely populate the service, they can downvote your comments until they disappear.

Also, Peterson is saying that there might be a 50-word minimum to comments — designed to make sure that comments are “thoughtful” — so that Nazis who want to post the 14 words will be allowed to but they’ll always have to post them four times in a row.

Here’s how the right wing site Newsbusters described it, drawing the details from a recent discussion between Peterson and stoner podcaster Joe Rogan.

Peterson discussed Thinkspot with podcaster Joe Rogan on June 9, emphasizing a radically pro-free speech Terms of Service. He described that freedom as the “central” aspect saying, “once you’re on our platform we won’t take you down unless we’re ordered to by a US court of law.”

That will be a profound contrast to platforms that ban users for “misgendering” people who identify as trans, or for tweeting “learn to code” at fired journalists. 

Well, with the 50 word comment minimum, they’ll actually have to write:

Learn to code.
Learn to code.
Learn to code.
Learn to code.
Learn to code.
Learn to code.
Learn to code.
Learn to code.
Learn to code.
Learn to code.
Learn to code.
Learn to code.
Learn to code.
Learn to code.
Learn to code.
Learn to code.
Learn to.

Clearly this will encourage only the most thoughtful of discussions.

As for the downvoting thing, Newsbusters explains that

All comments on the website will have a voting feature “and if your ratio of upvotes to downvotes falls below 50/50 then your comments will be hidden, people will still be able to see them, if they click, but you’ll disappear.” 

Obviously this whole thing is going to be a smashing success, as right-wing “free speechers” love it when algorithms hide their comments from view, and they don’t consider this censorship at all or yell about it endlessly or anything.

Peterson has apparently got a bunch of true a-list free speech warriors lined up to beta test the “anti-censorship platform,” including, well, himself; failed-comedian-turned-alt-right-booster Dave Rubin; celebrity “skeptic” and alleged rapist Michael Shermer; and YouTube blabber/rape joker Carl Benjamin, a.k.a. “Sargon of Akkad,” a.k.a. “Carl of Swindon,” recently in the news for his disastrous campaign for the European Parliament, which went so badly that it kind of took down the entire UKIP party with it.

So basically, the consummate control-freak Peterson is asking the prickliest assholes in the world of social media to pay him money to use a platform that allows their political enemies to downvote their comments until they vanish. I really can’t imagine anything going wrong here.

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Lainy
Lainy
5 years ago

So like redit but probably with even more child porn.

Kat, ambassador of the feminist government in exile
Kat, ambassador of the feminist government in exile
5 years ago

DOWNVOTE THIS, LOBSTER BOYS.

Ooglyboggles
Ooglyboggles
5 years ago

I can’t wait for this to compete with Gab.

Cheesynougats
Cheesynougats
5 years ago

I can’t for this to compete with Gab.

The flame wars will light up the skies for years.

Aron
Aron
5 years ago

*DOWNVOTE*DOWNVOTE*DOWNVOTE*

— Lobster boy

???????

Aron
Aron
5 years ago

(Obviously, I am not a lobster boy. I am actually a lobster MAN!)

/s

Amy E
Amy E
5 years ago

*breaks out the popcorn*

weirwoodtreehugger: chief manatee

Of course you have to pay to use it. Grifters gonna grift. I’m not sure how successful it’s going to be though, given that there are numerous sites where you can go be awful for free.

Flora
Flora
5 years ago

There’s no way this won’t immediately devolve into targeted down voting campaigns that are designed to -shock- silence people they disagree with. Truly, the freest of speech.

Flora
Flora
5 years ago

@WWTH, I mean at least he’s anticipated that there’s no way he will get any advertisers for this trainwreck.

Hippodameia
Hippodameia
5 years ago

Oh, how I love watching them tear each other down . . .

weirwoodtreehugger: chief manatee

So, that me too hating “leftist” woman from that post a few weeks ago just got totally busted liking a blatant Nazi tweet.

https://twitter.com/hannahgais/status/1139374091998248960

I’m shocked! Shocked, I tell you!

Bina
Bina
5 years ago

And they said irony was dead…

PeeVee the Tired
PeeVee the Tired
5 years ago

I am greatly amused at the thought of folks paying for free speech.

Bina
Bina
5 years ago

@PeeVee:

Well, as we all know, Freeze Peach isn’t free…

Amtep
Amtep
5 years ago

It sounds like the 50/50 rule won’t be applied to individual comments, but to your whole account. The account you paid for.

Well, I’m sure he’ll be willing to accept an additional payment to unlock your account again.

I’m also glad that trolls have an inherent sense of fairness and certainly won’t organize mass downvoting campaigns against people they dislike.

occasional reader
occasional reader
5 years ago

Thanks to the system vote, free speech is going to become speech free.

Shadowplay
5 years ago

Thanks to the system vote, free speech is going to become speech free

Why not?

Their speech is most often content free anyways, so this is just the next logical* step.

* For a certain value of logic

Cat Mara
Cat Mara
5 years ago

Someone in the Pharyngula comments christened it “Stinkpot” which sounds about right

Penny Psmith
Penny Psmith
5 years ago

Regarding that Newsbusters report:

That will be a profound contrast to platforms that ban users for harassing people, or for harassing people.

Fixed that for you.

(How can I do a strikethrough, on here? This would probably work better with a strikethrough of the original, rather than just a straight replacement.)

Tovius
Tovius
5 years ago

Thinkspot certainly sounds like an idea one might come up with while on the john.

Nick Kiddle
Nick Kiddle
5 years ago

“I really can’t imagine anything going wrong here.”

Well, running out of popcorn would be quite frustrating … Oh you meant for them!

Cat Mara
Cat Mara
5 years ago

@Tovius:

Thinkspot certainly sounds like an idea one might come up with while on the john.

Heck, it sounds like a euphemism for the john, given how many people claim to do their best thinking there. “‘scuse me, I’m just off to the thinkspot to, um, cogitate on what you just said” ?

occasional reader
occasional reader
5 years ago

> Shadowplay

Their speech is most often content free anyways, so this is just the next logical* step.

Indeed. And as their speech is also logic free, they are going to miss the next step. And tumble down in the credibility stair (maybe ?).

Moggie
Moggie
5 years ago

So the subscription thing is interesting. He’s promoting it as a way to reward creators. Instead of making money from youtube, and risking demonetisation, or signing up to Patreon, and losing that income stream when you violate their ToS, you sign up to ThinkSpurt as a creator, and take a cut of the subscription stream. That’s not an objectively terrible idea, I think, but the devil is in the details, and I suspect the site is going to struggle. It’s also going to be a hellscape, of course, but that’s life now.

once you’re on our platform we won’t take you down unless we’re ordered to by a US court of law.

Hmm, “once you’re on our platform”. I wonder how much gatekeeping there will be to ensure that only the right sort of people get onto the platform? If, say, Natalie Wynn wanted to create a channel on LobsterGab, would they be happy to take lefties’ money for that?

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