It's been building up for a while and I'm now at the point that I just don't feel good about being on Neocities anymore. I understand the principles that founder Kyle Drake is wanting to adhere to, though unfortunately, on the ground, I don't feel that "when thought is free, the best ideas win", as he was once quoted as saying. There are far too many misogynistic incel sites, racist right wing sites, Russian trolls and even outright Nazis on here. And many of them follow similar tactics as paid online trolls where they spread hatred under a banner of free speech and then block, delete, bully and harass anyone who disagrees with them or challenges them. Some of these sites have upwards of 100,000 hits and there are mini networks, mostly consisting of young men, who spread around some gnarly content that promotes violence and hatred towards women, BIPOC people, trans people and other marginilized people. I don't feel that free speech should be used to oppress the freedoms of others.
I realize that there is a delicate balance between provocative art, self-expression and blatant hate speech. The kind of violent rape content, promotion of the War in Ukraine and advocation of eugenics that I've found on here is a clear case of outright hate speech. It's not vague or complex or satirical.
There's so much I love about Neocities and I know that Drake and many others on here don't personally support Nazism or violent misogyny and there is an argument that censoring content may actually have the opposite effect intended ("Streisand Effect" as he put it). That could be true, I really don't know. I really don't know what the best way to deal with bigots is; yet there are many examples I could give from my personal life and through activism I've done where changes were enacted by direct action and calling people out, or through "accountability culture".
I don't believe that either having a sense of entitlement around freedom of expression, or neurodiversity (as some have used to excuse the behaviour of Richard Stallman) are legitimate justifications for spreading hatred and ignorance. Even if those of us on the spectrum aren't always able to relate to superficial social cues, we're still fully capable of learning about systemic societal issues and responding in mature and accountable ways, even if the understanding is purely intellectual.
So I'm out of here and will be moving to another host in the next while and will put a link up to the new site at some point.
❤❤❤ I GIVE A FUCK! ❤❤❤
UPDATE: January 2023
新年好 Happy Lunar New Year... My site is all moved over to Autistici now and can be viewed by clicking below:
Excitingly, I already found a new host that is anarchistic and autistic and offers free hosting for activists, so stay tuned for the site to go back up again soon!
It still freaks me out that so many people ended up reading the stuff I was sharing on here and I hope it helped some not feel as alone in their darkness and strangeness. I know that many sites on here were that for me..
