Indy Media Watch

Melbourne Indymedia is once again doing some introspection which has even included some comments pointing to this blog. Here they come....

Further to the last time I pointed out Melbourne's issues, comes ... more of the same.

The original comment that:

MIM is a destructive hate site - MIM is totally unacountable. There is so much racism, mysoginy, sectarianism, lies and paranoia on this site. It COULD be really usefull resource. But it's not. As it is, all it is good for is spreading hate and mistrust.

was met with typical responses ranging from acknowledgement of the problem:

I'm kind of with you there Ema. It sounds like you're actually an activist, so coming onto MIM is probably a cold slap in the face to anything you're involved in. I stop by here once every 3 months or so to see if anything's changed and always find that two out of every 3 posts are by right-wingers or are attacks on some section of the left. I think you (and me and other people with half a desire to actually change something in the world) could better spend our time reading information elsewhere, taking part in real debates or building movements or campaigns.

to usual 'anti censorship' denial of the problem:

It's not a hate site. It's a site which allows people to say what they want to say. Ema, just because you are involved in an organisation that suppresses alternative opinions, doesn't give you the right to jump on your computer and start warning and lecturing people who disagree with you. The world is full of different opinions-if you don't like it hop back into your political bubble.

and of course blaming the victims for causing the problem...

If I hated MIM and wanted to destroy it I would spam it with right-wing propaganda, racism, mysoginy, posts supporting genocide, stuff deliberately designed to spread hate between different groups and communities. I might throw in a bit of anti-muslem porn and sexist abuse and maybe a few threats of violence as the icing on the cake.

This last example is a classic, and naively assumes there aren't real Nazis, fascists and antisemites on the site. Aussie readers should look around this blog for Faruque Ahmed's work. Presumably the above commenter would suspect him to be a super-secret Mossad operative.

Riiiight....

Most of the remainder of the thread is argument, trolling, abuse and unproductive. This is pointed out in a final comment which pretty well sums it all up:

If anybody needed evidence that Indymedia is incapable of sustaining a serious discussion, you need only examine this thread.

The administrators should enforce its editorial policy and 90% of the destructive and childish nonsense that overwhelms every post would end.

THIS IS NOT CENSORSHIP!!!! It is more like throwing [out] some drunks who accidently stumble into a public meeting and proceed to shout over the top of everybody. You don't sit around respecting the ``free speech'' of such disrupters. In fact, by doing so, you deny everybody else who is genuinely interested in a constructive and sensible discussion, their right to free speech.

If Indymedia's policy is to *not* enforce its guidelines, then state it upfront. But if you want this site to be a useful one for activists and other people who might be swayed by progressive ideas, you'll do it.

This is not a criticism, it's a plea.

And one I endorse. Not that I expect anything to change...