Deplatforming a local activist backfired hard in my town last month

I used to think banning bad actors was the only move, but after seeing our city councilman get suspended from Twitter then rally triple the usual support at the next meeting, I flipped completely and now question every shadowban I hear about.

2 comments

2 Comments

charles_chen931mo ago

Oh man, I feel this. We had a local guy banned from Nextdoor for being too aggressive and it just made him a martyr. People showed up to his next cleanup event just to prove a point. I started ignoring the reporting and just let their posts sit there with zero engagement instead. That worked way better than yanking them off the platform. Did you try the quiet approach in your town?

henry_palmer241mo ago

Hold on, I gotta disagree with you there. Ignoring them just feels like giving up and letting them run wild, you know? To me, banning someone sends a clear message that their behavior isn't okay, especially if they're making people feel unsafe or harassed. I mean, if you let a bully keep posting and just don't react, doesn't that just teach everyone else that the bully gets to set the tone? Seems like a stronger line upfront stops the whole thing from becoming a bigger problem later.