# Trolls R Us Resurrections (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 11, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518 "2021-09-11T17:26:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 251
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9485 "2023-06-08T17:05:39Z")
Yep, thanks. Fortunately the save draft function has paid off. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9486 "2023-06-08T17:08:41Z")
It now says it’ll reopen in six minutes – but it obviously is open, I was able to post. The ‘six minutes’ notice was there both before and after I posted. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9487 "2023-06-08T17:09:08Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > And I just got banned from the thread for saying that it’s xenophobic/racist to call immigrants “millions of invaders.” This is some bullshit. I wasn’t trying to feed the troll, but accidentally fed the racist motherfuckers of the board. You have my utter sympathy, but it was the right call. And it says a lot about the OP of the thread (which I agree, is a shit-stirring troll, probable trock since they knew alll the buttons to push in their OP) and the parties involved to perfect the dog-whistles to clad their intent and refuse to explain. I had read a few posts and after the near perfect dismantlement (I believe by Gyrate) figured anything else would be efforts to say “Yeah, But!” You went in with good intentions, but that whole thing was poisoned bait from the get go. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9488 "2023-06-08T17:12:46Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > You have my utter sympathy, but it was the right call. I probably am better off not being in the thread–it’s infuriating to see shitheels using violence-inducing language like “invaders” to describe immigrants, it’s straight out of the Klan’s playbook–but I don’t see it as an attack on a poster. It’s difficult to think of a more definitional example of xenophobia than calling peaceful immigrants “millions of invaders,” and it’s a longstanding problem on this board, one that I thought we’d gotten rid of along with tomndebb, that somehow we’re not supposed to identify such venomous language for what it is. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9489 "2023-06-08T17:33:21Z")
For what it’s worth, to me if felt like W\_E was going for a back handed protection for you LHoD. I agree, that it was only a mild personal attack (but did feel it was one), but you were (for GOOD REASON mind you) escalating, and it likely would have resulted in something they would have HAD to give you a warning for. Banning you from the thread prevented it from escalating farther. I’m not sure that this was the best option, heck, I wish they had left the damn thing closed, but as discussed repeatedly in this thread, we in -this- thread are very suspicious sorts, and the mods try to be evenhanded. But I think W\_E acted in good faith in a tough situation. As for this - > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It’s difficult to think of a more definitional example of xenophobia than calling peaceful immigrants “millions of invaders,” and it’s a longstanding problem on this board, one that I thought we’d gotten rid of along with tomndebb, that somehow we’re not supposed to identify such venomous language for what it is. We know it’s not just the board, it’s the frikkin’ nation and world that have been emboldened and find it amusing to infuriate people who are just trying to make the world a better place. It’s insanely frustrating, and the fact that you feel that way says good things about you. Next time though, stay with us here our flaming Troll forum, or give them their own thread in the Pit. You are not alone! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9490 "2023-06-08T17:37:14Z")
I should’ve just reported the “invaders” and “illegals” comments as hate speech. I don’t know whether they’d be moderated as such, although obviously they should be. Maybe I’ll open an ATMB on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9491 "2023-06-08T17:45:44Z")
Idiot/troll drops a load of xenophobic bullet points taken from most every Republican political rally out there and runs away, and this is deemed suitable for Great Debates? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9492 "2023-06-08T18:04:48Z")
Please don’t. We don’t moderate such. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9493 "2023-06-08T18:06:10Z")
To be clear, you don’t moderate “invaders” and “illegals” as hate speech, and you also think that this isn’t an appropriate issue for ATMB? ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9494 "2023-06-08T18:07:36Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I should’ve just reported the “invaders” and “illegals” comments as hate speech. I don’t know whether they’d be moderated as such, although obviously they should be. Maybe I’ll open an ATMB on the subject. FWIW, I don’t see how your responses were a personal attack. It was a strident attack on the poster’s language (and maybe too strident for GD and worthy of a “step it down” note), but to my eyes, I didn’t see anything that attacked the poster himself. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9495 "2023-06-08T18:19:45Z")
To officially declare that “invaders” and “illegals” when used in this context is not hate speech will not sit well, in either the short or the long run. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9496 "2023-06-08T18:23:23Z")
Hell, we should just be glad they decided to moderate wetback after a decade or so. Or would that be kosher in that immigration thread too? ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9497 "2023-06-08T18:30:52Z")
I think this thread should work for a review: > [@Clarification of rule against hate speech](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clarification-of-rule-against-hate-speech/964634): > > The staff would like to clarify the SDMB’s long-standing rule against hate speech and our views on racist speech on the SDMB generally. Hate speech – that is, racial epithets and other pejorative remarks about minorities that in our opinion are clearly racist – is prohibited in all forums. If you see instances of hate speech on the SDMB, please flag the post and we will take such action as we think appropriate. Not all pejorative comments about minorities rise to the level of hate speech o… Based on it, I doubt the terms used (invaders and illegals) wouldn’t quite hit the current definitions, but if the poster using those terms has a pattern of doing so, or other targeted speech, then the mods might take a another look at it. ETA - I’m not saying I find these rules ideal, but want anyone who brings it up to have as much specific ammunition as possible! ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9498 "2023-06-08T18:35:39Z")
Agreed, it poisons the well for any meaningful conversation. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9499 "2023-06-08T18:35:39Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It’s difficult to think of a more definitional example of xenophobia than calling peaceful immigrants “millions of invaders,” and it’s a longstanding problem on this board, one that I thought we’d gotten rid of along with tomndebb, that somehow we’re not supposed to identify such venomous language for what it is. I didn’t specifically try it in that thread, partly because you’d already done so; but sometimes it’s possible to phrase the identification so that it’s entirely clear but doesn’t seem to be aimed at the specific poster. > [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I should’ve just reported the “invaders” and “illegals” comments as hate speech. I don’t know whether they’d be moderated as such, although obviously they should be. Maybe I’ll open an ATMB on the subject That looks like a good idea, though I didn’t think of it. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > Please don’t. We don’t moderate such. Seconding the question: do you mean you don’t think it should be discussed in ATMB? Why not? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9500 "2023-06-08T18:43:15Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Seconding the question: do you mean you don’t think it should be discussed in ATMB? Why not? It would upset the bigots on the board. They are already upset enough at the current restrictions, demanding that they not dehumanize and denigrate those seeking to escape violence and poverty would be asking too much. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9501 "2023-06-08T18:47:55Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Please don’t. We don’t moderate such. ⁢ Then that’s all the more reason we need an ATMB thread, That policy needs to change, and ATMB is where we can advocate for that. It wouldn’t be the first time a particular type of bigotry wasn’t against the rules, but we successfully argued to change that. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9502 "2023-06-08T18:55:51Z")
Absent any clarification from @What_Exit or any moderation of those terms in that thread, I absolutely think an ATMB thread on the subject is needed. If someone else wants to start it, great, or I can start it when I have some time. When everyone from the CATO Institute to Elie Wiesel to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom’s advisers warn against using “illegal immigrants,” “illegals”, and “invaders” as slurs/hate speech/incitement-to-violence language, it’s clear that it’s deeply offensive language. I suspect the moderation team just hasn’t really looked into or thought much about the subject and about its ties to racist Great Replacement Theory propaganda; but I am hopeful that once they examine the evidence, they’ll make the right call. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9503 "2023-06-08T19:17:43Z")
I remembered starting this thread about “illegals” as hate speech and being denied: > [@"Illegals" as a descriptor of people -- considered hate speech or not?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegals-as-a-descriptor-of-people-considered-hate-speech-or-not/838934): > > I searched but couldn’t find any past ruling – is “illegals” (the plural noun) considered hate speech? I think it should be – it’s an inherently dehumanizing descriptor, IMO, akin to calling immigrants vermin. If this has been discussed before, and I missed it, apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518/9504 "2023-06-08T19:23:36Z")
It seems to me that they closed it without actually making a decision, ruling instead that the thread had gone off-topic. Also, it has been four years, and I would like to think that the board as a whole has become a little more knowledgeable about who is using the term and why it is used. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518.md?page=250) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trolls-r-us-resurrections-part-1/950518.md?page=252)