To me, the problem boils down to the lack of regulation on basic internet infrastructure. Websites aren’t free. Moderation isn’t free. Well run porn sites need a lot of money to keep running. Money, that people are more than willing to spend on something run well, despite the memes about ‘paying for porn’.

But we’ve seen time and time again that websites who host porn face issues with basic business services like payment processors, sometimes datacenters and ISPs too. Why are we allowing banks to control what is and isn’t allowed online? Why is that the ‘just go build you own’ sentiment seems to include standing up a worldwide bank, credit card system, ISP, datacenter, etc all just to run a webpage without outside interference.

We wouldn’t stomach power company shutting off power to abortion clinics or stem cell research universities just because they disagreed with it. Why do we allow the basic backbone of modern society to do something similar?

And yes, this has affected websites for content that I find absolutely abhorrent. Truth Social and it’s ilk are truly terrible, but I do think it’s worth exploring how comfortable we are with the kind of interference they faced from Amazon AWS and payment processors. What happens if Trump or someone like him wins again and the mood shifts so that companies start cracking down on trans and LGBT resources in the same way?

No. It took me a lot of hard effort to get here with my upbringing. I think parts of it are fine and for the most part regular people practice in ways that aren’t harmful to others, but (at least in the US), the entire structure of it is deeply harmful and results in good, decent folk taking actions or supporting others who do real harm.

My understanding is that the recent interest rate hikes are causing the VC purse strings to tighten. Pretty sure Reddit is being told to start turning a profit or be cut off from their funding.