
NZ declares massacre video “objectionable,” arrests people who shared it - mreome
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/03/new-zealand-men-could-get-14-years-for-sharing-massacre-video/
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manfredo
I (and judging by the torrent trackers, thousands upon thousands of others)
viewed the video. I can only speak for myself, but I did so precisely because
the government cracked down so hard on it. I have never viewed videos of any
other mass casualty attack, save for historical events like the 9/11 attacks.
It's like Rushdie's _The Satanic Verses_ : one way to ensure that lots of
people want to view something is to try to ban it. The fact that doing so in a
liberal democracy like New Zealand could land me 14 years in prison is
orwellian.

I can speak from direct experience that the video is awful and has essentially
no redeeming value save for serving as proof that these events occurred. But
if our goal is to dissuade people from watching the video I do wonder whether
threatening people with prison sentences is the best way to go about it.
General sensibilities and removal from major platforms will prevent people who
don't want to see it from seeing it. Those that do want to see it will be able
to do so regardless of government censorship with a VPN and a torrent client.
The ban had moved a lot of people from the former category to the latter.

Not to mention this censorship feeds into extremists' belief that the attack
was staged, say, to prompt the government to enact more restrictive gun laws.
This was one of the reasons why the Sandy Hook shooting had a lot of
conspiracy theories surrounding it.

~~~
ziddoap
One would think that governments would be familiar with the Streisand Effect
by this point...

Almost every month or two, I read this exact story just with different
details:

Government/Company doesn't like/approve of X. Government/Company decides to be
extremely vocal about not liking X, via media/laws/bills/debates/lawsuits.
Everyone wants to see what the fuss is all about, so they
download/view/buy/research X. Government/Company gets angry. Rinse. Repeat.

