
It’s time to weaponize the “whisper network” - tomjakubowski
https://www.vox.com/first-person/2017/10/16/16482800/harvey-weinstein-sexual-harassment-workplace
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navigator01
The potential for anonymous slander is too high for a real system like this to
be justified. Whispers turn to rumors which turn to falsehoods. Someone
interpreted as being "creepy" in texts by one woman shouldn't have his life
ruined by an anonymous post on a spreadsheet.

~~~
f_allwein
Agree, but this is also a serious and (apparently) widespread issue which
moreover sounds like a combination of technical and social measures could help
to address it. So it seems like a good idea to have a discussion about it.

~~~
navigator01
Traditional procedures that balance due process and expedient justice are the
solution here. Anyone who faces abuse needs to speak up to either HR in a
corporate setting or the police, if appropriate.

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Toboe
>We must show that the accused, not the accuser, will suffer when a case goes
public, and do so by building institutions of support for victims who come
forward.

Shouldn't it be "that the one proven guilty will suffer"?

With effective assumption of innocence for accused and accuser.

(No "someone said x did y so x must be guilty" and no "nah, z is just claiming
that for attention" without proof)

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aaron695
They are justifying lynch mobs.

On top of this they seem to live in a fantasy land where these tools they
create will only be used for their own agendas.

The abuse they are trying to justify is on par with the perpetrators abuse
they are trying to stop.

Wrong on many many levels.

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bobzibub
How about a system where accusations are entered and kept encrypted until
enough actual people enter similar ones and the info is released (maybe to a
Wikileaks type organization for verification) automatically? The subject could
be notified if they get n complaints. The accusations would have to be enough
that there would be an excellent chance of conviction. I think it is an issue
for all people in power, not simply media types. Because of the power of the
subjects there would have to be some way to avoid the courts shutting it down
too though. Perhaps an Ether smart contract? It would never catch all the bad
people in the world but could at least put some checks on or even stop the
powerful serial offender. I know this is a bit "Pollyanna-Technical"
"solution" to a human problem but it is the best I can think of given the
adversarial court system, inequities of money, and all that. Also, I don't
think one should limit it to particular crimes. On my phone: apologies for
such a disorganized post.

~~~
jackvalentine
Excellent starting point. You suggested some ways of dealing with the
multitude of problems that intersect here:

\- False accusations \- Accuser/accusee power imbalances \- Interfering courts
\- Lengthy formal court processes

One thing I'm not sure about in your idea is how you'd deal with brigading to
force the magic number to be met.

~~~
bobzibub
The Wikileaks style organization would have to vet the results and deem them
as legit before any release. And then release to relevant authorities.

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roywiggins
Reporters were trying to weaponize the whisper network against Weinstein for
years. They were part of the network, and managed to contact a number of his
victims.

But they couldn't get anyone to go on the record, for (I hope) obvious
reasons. The woman who went to the police had her case dropped and her name
splashed across gossip magazines, probably stories planted by Weinstein.
Without someone on record there wasn't a story that would pass journalistic
standards.

Maybe we should relax those standards, I don't know. If a reporter has a dozen
separate accusers with correlated stories who are not mutually in contact,
maybe they should be able to publish without having to get any of the accusers
to put their name to it. But would it have the same effect as having
accusations with names attached? Or would the accused just say "I won't
respond to anonymous allegations" and then the story goes away.

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curtisblaine
This advocates for the destruction of the presumption of innocence
principle[1]. What could go possibly wrong?

[1][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presumption_of_innocence](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presumption_of_innocence)

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jsjsuu7676
As both a victim of rape (that was prosecuted in court) and someone who was
falsely accused of sexual harassment (I never have done anything that could be
construed as such), this is terrifying.

The whisper network is already weaponized. It makes victims of the innocent
and undermines the innocence of those who already victims.

The only just way to proceed is to assume innocence until proven guilty.

The discussion around this is becoming deeply disturbing.

