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Yahoo: A haven for hate?

Yahoo News hasn’t ever impressed me with the quality or consistency of its content, but it wasn’t until recently that I discovered something far more disturbing in the comments section of its articles: blatant, unmitigated racism and bigotry.

A fair number of Yahoo users seem to enjoy spewing hateful and racist comments in response to news items, smugly secure in their anonymity. Some even go so far as to threaten and harass other users, particularly those who appear to have even a remote connection or sympathy to Muslims (most of whom are simply and politely posting their opinions on world issues).

Yahoo’s only defense seems to be a ‘Report Abuse’ button, after which they contact you and thank you for your information; saying they can’t discuss what action they may (or may not) take with the offenders. Otherwise, the news forum seems completely unmoderated and unmonitored - with the exception of a persnickety content bot that’s supposed to catch bad language and fails utterly; (in fact, it often blocks legitimate ‘clean’ posts).

I’ve filed abuse reports, and I’ll post the replies if anyone is interested; but I’m wondering if there is anyone else out there who has experienced this phenomenon, been harassed in the Yahoo News forum, or otherwise experienced or seen what I’m talking about - because I doubt very much Yahoo will clean up its act unless more people speak up about this.

This closed post was written 1 year, 9 months ago | V/U/S: 217, 9, 4 | Edit Post | Report Post

Racism, number, language, Yahoo!, information, Debate, world, Muslim, Phenomenon, Anonymity, yahoo, Harassment, bigotry, hate (How Tags Affect Reciprocity)

jcd 1 #
An Unknown Location | 1 year, 9 months ago (2 hours, 41 minutes after post)

That happens on a lot of forums.

That happens on a lot of forums.

Help me with: Umm..

Asaad 7 #
Toronto, ON, CA | 1 year, 9 months ago (9 hours, 16 minutes after post)

Silverwings, while respecting your belief of the Christ returning. I don’t think anyone should wait for anyone to return to fix all this. I think every person can bring a change if they only take these things seriously and take the initiative. We’re all responsible for this world, since its our world and it would be unfair to wait for someone to come and fix this for the mess we created.

Silverwings, while respecting your belief of the Christ returning. I don't think anyone should wait for anyone to return to fix all this. I think every person can bring a change if they only take these things seriously and take the initiative. We're all responsible for this world, since its our world and it would be unfair to wait for someone to come and fix this for the mess we created.

Help me with: :O

Warrior Poet 3 #
Toronto, ON, CA | 1 year, 9 months ago (12 hours, 37 minutes after post)

jcd wrote:
That happens on a lot of forums.

I know, jcd; but this is Yahoo - I’d expect this from a little no-name forum, but not from them. They have a responsibility to their clients. I’d also point out that many smaller forums have moderators that handle this sort of bile.

[quote jcd]That happens on a lot of forums.[/quote] I know, jcd; but this is Yahoo - I'd expect this from a little no-name forum, but not from them. They have a responsibility to their clients. I'd also point out that many smaller forums have moderators that handle this sort of bile.

Warrior Poet 3 #
Toronto, ON, CA | 1 year, 9 months ago (12 hours, 42 minutes after post)

I agree that the world is in terrible shape, Silverwings - I see the way people have reacted to the Muslim people in the wake of the ‘war on terror’, and I wonder how long it’ll take for us to realize that by dehumanizing someone else, we lose our own humanity.

I agree that the world is in terrible shape, Silverwings - I see the way people have reacted to the Muslim people in the wake of the 'war on terror', and I wonder how long it'll take for us to realize that by dehumanizing someone else, we lose our own humanity.

Asaad 7 #
Toronto, ON, CA | 1 year, 9 months ago (12 hours, 48 minutes after post)

We’re living in an extremist time. And it’s not just about religious extremism. Beliefs and opinions have hardly any meanings left to people, their more of an exhibition to them nowadays. You see Muslim extremism and those rallies, you see Gay rallies with public exhibitions about sexuality which can be pretty vulgar at times, its becoming an exhibition world now. People have lost the essence of faith and ideologies, showing it off makes them believe that their much into it than the other person.

We're living in an extremist time. And it's not just about religious extremism. Beliefs and opinions have hardly any meanings left to people, their more of an exhibition to them nowadays. You see Muslim extremism and those rallies, you see Gay rallies with public exhibitions about sexuality which can be pretty vulgar at times, its becoming an exhibition world now. People have lost the essence of faith and ideologies, showing it off makes them believe that their much into it than the other person.

Help me with: :O

Warrior Poet 3 #
Toronto, ON, CA | 1 year, 9 months ago (13 hours, 18 minutes after post)

Hmm…interesting assessment, Asaad.

You’re right, extremism doesn’t seem to be limited to religion. I worry about what happens to the human race when that ‘essence of faith’ is lost.

A few years ago people would have jumped behind this issue in a flash, and positive change would be an inevitability. Now we just accept it as normal, shrug our shoulders and say “this happens all over the place”? We wait for someone else to do something about it? We write it off as the ’spirit of the times’? Well, I guess that really is the state of the world right now.

Anyway, thank you all for your responses - I appreciate you taking the time to share your ideas. It’s good to have some other perspectives on this.

Hmm...interesting assessment, Asaad. You're right, extremism doesn't seem to be limited to religion. I worry about what happens to the human race when that 'essence of faith' is lost. A few years ago people would have jumped behind this issue in a flash, and positive change would be an inevitability. Now we just accept it as normal, shrug our shoulders and say "this happens all over the place"? We wait for someone else to do something about it? We write it off as the 'spirit of the times'? <sigh> Well, I guess that really is the state of the world right now. Anyway, thank you all for your responses - I appreciate you taking the time to share your ideas. It's good to have some other perspectives on this.

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