A Conspiracy Against ATS?

Originally posted by EvilBat
reply to post by AllTiedTogether

 

I think the membership went up for the drug talk because people wanted to jump on the Free speech bandwagon, you know "fight the authority because we want to be hip and cool." Not realizing they are just hurting their membership and the forums here. I would say that 70% of the memberships that joined during that will most likely be forgotten about. But I say hurt the forums because well whats it doing to it its not helping buy members complaining that they want to talk about something when they were asked not to.

Why would we need members who want to discuss topics that are not allowed here? They want to do it here, especially. Sure, they joined but it got out of hand, in my opinion at least. Oh well, i understand your point though.

reply to post by EvilBat


It was not disrupted by people going with T&C claims, that is what this thread is about. Do you think that there is a conspiracy against ATS to make them look bad? No... they are doing it themselves. My examples earlier show this.

As for DoctorVenture there... if you talk hypothetically about THC that will get you banned. If I made a statement like "if I could, I would go kill that user", user being an ATS members name. What would happen? Have you checked out the last statement I showed? It's still there. And, a red WARN flag hasn't been put on the user who quoted almost five pages yet. Shows me they have rules for their own and some of those that would be called trolls etc.

Need I say more about your incorrect statements???





[edit on 28-2-2009 by AllTiedTogether]

reply to post by AllTiedTogether


Nope, didnt need to say anything at all, I am correct. The issue in the case of drug use seems to have come up from people sharing drug stories they did. Not statements like 'medical use' or prisons being overtaxed etc..

The people sharing stories raised liability concerns (my presumption on this part) and drama-no idea which one more. So-when something is a problem easiest thing is to ban it. I mean, I could easily be wrong here, but I dont think the mods are paid. The suggestions that people should devote what could be a full time job to clear out problem posts on a topic. It's preposterous to even ask that when there are undoubtedly countless forums out there where they allow it.

As for freedom of speech, pft. If this site is the only way the people complaining are 'censored' they are profoundly lucky.

(edit)
BTW, account name = lordtyp0. Not that it matters much.


[edit on 1-3-2009 by lordtyp0]

Originally posted by AllTiedTogether
reply to post by EvilBat

 

It was not disrupted by people going with T&C claims, that is what this thread is about.
[edit on 28-2-2009 by AllTiedTogether]

Well damn I smack my own wrist some reason I thought this thread was about

My conclusion - theres a hard core of people out there who want to see the site go down. They use some fairly standard cointel practices - disseminate into the population, instigate, protest, and then disappear either through enforced banning, or self-withdrawal. They have many accounts, set up over a long period of time, and some just sit and sleep, or participate in benign threads until one day, one of them goes rogue and forces an "issue" - usually over a single T&C item - that allows the usual round of allegations to be lobbed out, in the vain hope that someones gonna crack. People get drawn into such things unwittingly, and some issues become bigger than others (as is the case with the recent one)

And any defence that ATS puts up to protect its name and image gets a "Well you would say that..." response.

Who is this group? I have no idea. Could be disgruntled ex-members, could be something else more sinister indeed. This stuff has been going on for a loooong time, but believe me, its there.

There is your conspiracy folks.

And nothing about disputing the T&C,

You know, I don't want to point fingers or anything, but I'm sensing a repeating trend in this thread. Am I being paranoid, or is there some credence behind my risen eyebrow?

[edit on 3/1/2009 by SonicInfinity]

I dont know the whole story of what happened and whats going on. But it sounds like you have a troll problem. Forum trolls to be exact.

No offense but I think your just giving these people to much credit. There probably just trolls. Which are generally just some dumb kid who intentionally starts trouble in forums. Arguments mostly. Flame wars. They do it for laughs. Im 24. I have trolled before and still do. Not on ATS mind you. But I have on other sites. Mostly game sites. Yeah its fun. Yes I laughed my butt off.

But Im kind of new to ATS and I dont post here much. But when I do its generally just a few times. I have visited ATS before. The one think I have noticed that I didnt notice then and by then I mean like 2003. I didnt see alot of anime avatars back then.

Mostly kids and teenagers have anime avatars. Im not trying to brand people who have anime avatars but the truth is hard to escape. You cant deny it. Who is more likely to troll? Kids and teenagers. Because of how cheap PCs have become and how user friendly they have become and the cheap pricing of internet service ($10 for the cheapest dial-up and $60 for the cheapest broadband service) its now wonder ATS has been flooded with kids. You can tell 90% of the time by the avatar.

Like I said. I think its just trolls and just do what other sites do. ban them and move on. I think your over thinking this. Yes they can be a pain. Yes they will carry on, hoot and holler and make a fuss. Thats what they want. They also want to keep you freaked out. Believe me I know as a semi former troll.

reply to post by EvilBat


Pardon my wording, I meant to say ... the fact that people are complaining about certain T&C violations being broken within this thread and yet not being dealt with because of certain user positions directly relates to the OP. The fact that we question the abuse of T&C when it is required for the ATS staff to make a point is completely what I've been talking about. Sorry to have confused you. It's getting late.

Rgds

I forgot to mention that one primary source of trolls online is actually en.wikipedia.org...

Go check it out, most of them organize trollings in other boards.

You know now that I think about it I noticed some of the same things. I read a lot even if I don't respond. I think I will read a little more closely now. S&F

it seems perfectly reasonable to me that some enitity out there, be it for whatever faction, is intentionally trying to stifle the success of of ATS. I mean come on people in all the years ats has been around im sure there have been many a post that came to close to the truth for the conspirators.

We are ATS'ers truthers truth seekers and hoax killers it would be h ard to imagine that some ot various points in time havent ruffled the feathers and rattled the cages of the people supposedly leading these conspiricies.

thank you OP for putting this out on the table

Watch your backs ats'ers i can almost promise someone is watching

S & F

reply to post by rawsom


Yes, that's something I've been trying to explain on ATS for some while now, yet a lot of people don't understand. On 4chan, they don't troll other boards for a specific reason (most of the time). They do it for the "lulz" -- aka "for the heck of it for no reason whatsoever." Another thing people can't grasp is that some people on 4chan are highly intelligent, meaning that they can easily make a thread look real and continue a well-construed discussion for tens upon hundreds of pages. When they get tired of it, they will be all "yeah it's a hoax LOL" and get banned, knowing that they would be banned from the very start.

On ATS, people make a big deal out of getting banned, but on 4chan, there are users there that have been banned literally HUNDREDS of times and still come back. I'm not saying disinfo agents or people with an agenda don't exist; I'm saying people with no agenda and wanting to have a good time trolling people is just as viable an option.

i think all of you who think theres a big conspiracy out there to bring down ATS are the overly paranoid types or something.

ATS has been ramping up attention to itself, and with that we have all seen a massive increase in new members.

of course with any membership drives you will always end up with a lot of new users and theres always a few crack pots in the mix.

nothing to see here, move along...


[edit on 1/3/09 by Obliv_au]

reply to post by Obliv_au


2nd

reply to post by enigmania

reply to post by mmiichael


Page 8. Read this one people, very much worth it.

And,

reply to post by ZeroGhost


Page 12.

The two posts above are related in some tenuous way to this. Both are relevant to the OP and I don't think they deserve to be lost among the "my dad is bigger than yours".

Firstly a couple of personal insights:

I can't even remember how I came across ATS, most likely a Google search. In any case what I saw initially scared the hell out of me. I didn't know where to begin so, I did the honourable thing and hid. For about two years my only contact came from the weekly email on new topics. I used these to see what was happening on ATS.

I acknowledge the film MIB when I say I call this email, "The Hotsheet".

So, I have an account that lays dormant for two years before I take the plunge and start posting. Suspicious? Possibly. A sleeper? Maybe. More likely I am the exception that proves the rule.

Next up: My good lady is a journalist. As far as I now she is not a member on this site. I do know that she will sometimes visit it to see if there's anything bubbling under. A good journo is always sniffing around getting a scent of what is happening in places often left alone. I would imagine a lot of The Alphabet Agencies have people who do the same thing, that is their job. They get paid to trawl ATS. I want one of those!

Two reasonable explanations for suspicious behaviour but it gets better...

This thread is NOT about censorship, it's about a conspiracy so let's throw a little one into the mix:

Internet 2.

Many CT websites are running around claiming the sky is falling in. Let us assume it is and that CT websites will be marginalised and culled in the new order. How does ATS stay ahead of the game? By preempting clamp-downs by the authorities and playing ball it can operate under the cover of an obedient servant until the time comes to come out guns blazing.

Perhaps the management have seen outsiders undermining the site and have chosen to act before someone else does? Actually, yes they have but my opinions on this course of action are irrelevant. I am playing with their ball and they have the right to take it home with them at any time. Is this sometimes infuriating? Yes. But like I said, irrelevant.

Take specific talk of anything other than conspiracy elsewhere and try (like what I do ) to stay on topic.

[edit: spelling. I'm disgusted with myself ]

[edit on 1-3-2009 by Nirgal]

I agree with the op and kudos on an excellent post. There are select groups that undoubtedly have a beef with ATS and are putting out an effort toward getting some payback. If they are who I suspect, they have come back because they were put in their place by the same people that I see receiving the most criticism.

I know if I were so motivated and intended to disrupt a site or a movement for whatever reason, I would try to do it in a way to cause otherwise rational people to endlessly argue amongst themselves and be distracted. I would want them to forget that they found and frequented a site for similar reasons and though they had more in common than not, never let them resolve anything and God forbid realize the real enemy was not the one they were arguing with.

I mean, we are smarter than that, aren't we?

What ATS does in deleting posts is censorship.

If the ATS owners or mods feel that some topics are "too scary" or "taboo" or just "too cool for school" then it is well within their means to remove said topics.

But don't try to make your actions out to be anything other than what they are...

Censorship.

That's right.

Censorship.

Originally posted by seagull


Censorship? That's a whine of dubious vintage...

For clarification... are you saying there is no censorship on ATS?

Because if a site wide ban on drug discussion doesn't fit the definition of censorship... I don't know what does.

That's not to say the owners/staff don't have the right to censor whatever they want here. They most certainly do.

But it is censorship.... By very definition.


If you'd had said a complaint about loss of free speech is a whine... I'd have agreed. There's no losing free speech here... it's privately owned... the owners dictate. At their whim.

But the deletion and banning of drug or any other conversation here most certainly does constitute censorship.

I fail to see what's dubious about that.

Peace

Originally posted by Symbiote
What ATS does in deleting posts is censorship.

If the ATS owners or mods feel that some topics are "too scary" or "taboo" or just "too cool for school" then it is well within their means to remove said topics.

But don't try to make your actions out to be anything other than what they are...

Censorship.

That's right.

Censorship.

You just don't get it do you? They own ATS, therefore they own a media that publishes on their very own permission. They have the right to decide their own content, we do not decide what contents of ATS is, it is not our media. That's just the way it is. We can use this media but we do not own it, therefore we do not have control over what is published or not. Owners of ATS do.

Its just that your point of view is way too simple in modern world. There are branches of a path of thought that clearly demonstrate this, and I think that you are simply too young or ignorant to see it. If you insist on definition of cencorship, I can attack you and show you that your very own definition does not apply in case of ATS. I already did. They make a decision of content and after that, NOBODY CENCORS THAT MEDIA.

The only point I wish to make is that the ATS policy of squashing any discussion of drugs is in fact shaping the debate around very many contemporary issues and driving it firmly into a neo-Bush/republican policy that is very much similar to the 1920s when the hoods were making money off the criminalization of alchohol.

I think the ATS policy is just the reflection of a very domineering and repressive attitude in the US government that is in fact putting us all at greater risk due to the resulting drug wars. Good going. I hope you understand how much this is parallel to the political repression of speech in China and similar places.