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News & politics

Is GN guilty of bias or just ill-informed?

(95 Posts)
growstuff Sun 07-Jun-20 12:11:56

Opal Some people do have political views akin to the Nazis.

BTW The Nazis weren't Fascists. There were very real differences between Nazis and Mussolini's Fascists.

growstuff Sun 07-Jun-20 12:10:12

Fascism is a political ideology just as Communism is. What emotional connotations does it have which Communism doesn't?

oldgimmer1 Sun 07-Jun-20 12:08:31

Views are views though, insulting or not. Why should certain views be given precedence over others.

Gransnet should not be judge and jury, in my view. Can't we police ourselves?.

dragonfly46 Sun 07-Jun-20 12:08:02

I don't think it is bias - more the emotional connotations of the word fascist.

Opal Sun 07-Jun-20 12:03:15

Simple really. Calling someone a communist is not an insult, just a description of their far left political beliefs. However, calling someone a fascist is, in my view, a deliberate insult and provocation, accusing them of being something akin to nazis, and is usually deliberately used by those on the left of politics towards those of us on the right. People who use that term are aware of it, and know exactly what they are doing when they use it. As do you.

kittylester Sun 07-Jun-20 12:03:03

oreaume presume

kittylester Sun 07-Jun-20 12:01:39

I oreaume it is considered acceptable to imply people are racists too! Or - what was it - embittered old crones?

ladymuck Sun 07-Jun-20 12:01:37

I think personal insults should not be allowed on Gransnet, but they are. Of course we often disagree with another's posts, that's what discussions are for, but no thread should be allowed to descend into name-calling.

Oldwoman70 Sun 07-Jun-20 12:01:05

Agree with Ramblingrose Why is it necessary to label anyone - by all means argue against a persons point of view or opinion, should we not have left name calling back in the playground?

Surely the person who resorts to name calling and insults only proves how shaky their stand is and will have lost the argument.

GrannyGravy13 Sun 07-Jun-20 12:00:52

Right wing bias that is hysterical, as a Conservative who after much soul searching and family conversations voted for Brexit I have been called many odious names on GN as have many others in my position.

Hetty58 Sun 07-Jun-20 11:59:52

trisher, they've no doubt got a list of words that flag up problems and trigger deletion, that's all. I expect that there's an assumption of older women being inclined towards right wing views (however outdated) and a wish to remove any potentially insulting terms.

oldgimmer1 Sun 07-Jun-20 11:59:18

I think it depends on the context.

If a remark is made which is deemed unacceptable by the recipient of that remark, then I think the recipient should be able to ask for the unacceptable post to be deleted.

Otherwise, I agree with trisher.

I don't think it should be up to the powers-that-be at Gransnet Towers to decide what is, or isn't, acceptable.

Ramblingrose22 Sun 07-Jun-20 11:53:48

Without wishing to state the "bleeding obvious", why call people "communists" or "fascists" in the first place?

Surely it would be best to refer to the statement/argument made rather than the person who posted it and say why you disagree with the statement/argument made?

I expect that there is a well-meaning team of people in GNHQ who delete posts and that can lead to some inconsistencies in treatment of posts that include "insults".

Jishere Sun 07-Jun-20 11:38:02

Heated or childish when none of us have a clue except going on what someone writes.
However I would rather be called a communist than a fascist which brings to mind evil leaders. Maybe that is why it was removed and nothing to do with left or the right.

trisher Sun 07-Jun-20 11:26:36

I refuse to discuss that remark as it is a direct violation of the GNHQ rule about cross threads and I would imagine an attempt to get the thread deleted. Stick to the subject why is it OK to call me "communist" but not OK to call anyone a "fascist".
You are probably right WWMk2. Sad isn't it?

janeainsworth Sun 07-Jun-20 11:23:12

I think it's a matter of connotation Trisher.
Although we all know that Communist parties & governments in Russia and China have been guilty of terrible atrocities against their own people, somehow the perception is that they are not quite so bad as Nazi Germany was.

I can't really explain it, but personally I wouldn't mind acknowledging a card-carrying Communist as a friend or acqaintance.
But a signed up member of a fascist organisation would be beyond the pale.
Interesting question.

ExD Sun 07-Jun-20 11:12:20

I know nothing about our Admin staff but presume they are volunteers trying to keep things impartial.
Wouldn't it be best if we all tried NOT to make personal remarks at all, especially over political matters? Then Admin wouldn't need to remove posts.
I mean, someone's remarks may come across as 'nasty' and 'embittered' but to call someone one hasn't met names like that is non-productive and pointless. (Which doesn't mean the person who made them is non-productive and pointless).

Whitewavemark2 Sun 07-Jun-20 11:12:01

I think that you Are probably correct trisher

But there will be an inbuilt bias to the right because of the demographics.

Perhaps GN prefer to reflect that in order to keep forum membership.

Anniebach Sun 07-Jun-20 11:05:40

Is ‘nasty, embittered old crones’ acceptable ? It’s what you
called posters trisher .

trisher Sun 07-Jun-20 10:57:40

The politics threads often become quite heated. In the course of this various political theories are attributed to posters and they are called names according to those theories. So I have been called a communist, far left, far left republican; and many other names. However when I have called others fascists my post has been deleted. Now perhaps GNHQ don't have a real understanding of political terms or they have a distinctly right wing bias. But I can't see why saying communist is OK but saying fascist isn't.