Linux communities beware of #PewDiePie fans

Regardless of PewDiePie’s personal #politics (which clearly, at the very least are problematic), it is fairly well known by anyone who has been following him for any number of years that the vast majority of his fan base are enthusiastic fascists.

Now #PewDiePie , who’s content centers around PC gaming and Windows, has decided to switch to #Linux and published a video encouraging his followers to do the same. This means a very large number of his #fascist fan base is going to be switching to Linux.

Now many Linux communities are going to be forced to more explicitly choose their politics. Like the parable of the Nazi bar, if the community remains politically neutral, it will become fascist in short order.

A few things to be wary of:

  • People asking you not to be “too political” or to “focus on the technology, not the politics” is a classic and highly effective fascist ruse to get moderators to lighten up on fascist elements posting in their community.
  • People complaining about free speech rights. The #Internet and the #Fediverse is already a domain where people can speak freely about their politics by running their own server and building their own community with few to no government constraints. You don’t need to compromise on whether fascists have the right to free speech in your community.
  • Arguments over your code of conduct (CC) and “safe spaces.” Keep them up-to-date. Research other people’s CCs, learn about the history of why these CCs came to be, learn about what the function of each clause of the code is included and phrased the way it is. These were usually designed to make explicit the fact that a community wants to be a safe space where underprivileged people can feel comfortable expressing themselves, and it is very easy to make people afraid to express themselves. Fascists understand these CCs and the concept of “safe spaces” were explicitly designed to exclude them, and often attack these ideas.
'Subscribe to PewDiePie': What did Christchurch mosque gunman mean in final words before shooting? | The Independent

The gunman's mention of the meme was a nod to those in-the-know about internet culture – a fringe part of which helped foster his extreme anti-immigrant and Islamophobic ideology

The Independent

@ramin_hal9001

Could you elaborate a bit on your arguments? I don't know much about pewdiepie; from what I see on the internet, he seems to do some stupid stuff for "content", true, but that's it. And most people that watch him are kids, a terrorist using a widespread meme is not a sign that the majority of his fanbase are enthusiastic fascists.

So I would like some arguments to sustain your point of view; I'm not saying that it isn't possible that you're right, but from the limited information that I found in these 5 minutes, your statement seems very overblown.

@arh @ramin_hal9001 Indeed, I am not aware of Pewdiepie espousing fascist ideas, nor tolerating it in his fans either.

This is like blaming Beatles for Charles Manson's acts.

@ticho @arh @ramin_hal9001 according to the linked article it's not so much the content, but parts of the fan base.

So there is a likelihood that more of those people also try out Linux and try to establish something there when he makes videos about Linux.

I mean it's a no-brainer, because we even have fascist instances in the Fediverse. So of course the Linux community has to be aware, too.
The football team has to be aware, too.

@fuchsi @arh @ramin_hal9001 Aren't you a little too alarmist? Every mainstream artist has some crazy or despicable people among their fans, this is no different.

Besides, we have evidence of one (1) such fan, stop talking about "parts of the fan base".

@ticho @fuchsi @arh @ramin_hal9001
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pnmRYRRDbuw
pewdiepie is highly regarded in the 'make fascism great again' community because he teaches the 9yos who watch him that it's super-cool to call people they don't like by the n-slur and make holocaust jokes.
The PewDiePipeline: how racist humor leads to violence

YouTube

@wouldinotcallmyselfahumanbeing @ticho @arh @ramin_hal9001

BBC wrote "In other videos he also showed swastikas drawn by a fan, played the Nazi Party anthem and did a brief Hitler salute - all of which he says was done as a joke." (2017)
Disney didn't seem to be amused.

@fuchsi @ticho @arh @ramin_hal9001 before the usual 'everyone does stupid shit when they're young' apologist defence, in my juvenile asshole phase I started writing graffiti and tagging. one of my earliest tags incorporated a swastika because while I didn't know what a nazi was I knew the symbol was 'scary'. a fellow delinquent tagger classmate caught me at it and shit down my neck about the swastika. if kjellberg never learned any better it's because his peers were all little proto-fashies too.

@wouldinotcallmyselfahumanbeing @fuchsi @arh @ramin_hal9001 And before the "you are defending fascists" witchhunt gets any further, I am not defending him.

I went into this thread not knowing anything about the streamer, and the original post, with its URL was nothing more than baseless fingerpointing. That is what I reacted to.

After learning more, thanks to other people posting actual useful information, I of course agree pewdiepie is a fascist (or probably rather neonazi?) piece of shit.

@ticho I don’t think @wouldinotcallmyselfahumanbeing was necessarily directing their comment at you specifically. I think their counter argument could apply to many other people in this thread who have tried defending PewDiePie who (unlike you) would not admit PewDiePie’s politics are toxic.

I have enjoyed reading both of your comments in this thread.

@wouldinotcallmyselfahumanbeing @fuchsi @arh

@ramin_hal9001 @fuchsi @arh @wouldinotcallmyselfahumanbeing I think you're right, I should take a step back. I guess I feel bad for being wrong after giving pewdiepie benefit of the doubt, and was reading some of the replies too defensively because of that.
@ticho I'm sorry i led you to feel personally attacked. @ramin_hal9001 is right in that i took the opportunity of your post to rebut a position several others in the thread held. While my first toot was in direct reply to yours, my follow up was intended to be a more generalised preemptive response to anyone about to jump in with a canard I've also seen reference a couple of times already. In hindsight i didn't convey that at all.
@ticho 1/2 this whole conversation does you credit. I think it's important to give ostensibly problematic actors the benefit of the doubt initially too, it affords them an oportunity for contrition and growth. Defensiveness at having done so is reflective of your having intent to be a good person and having an uncomfortable feeling that you might have stepped too near the edge of one of your own principles; it's truly admirable that you reflected on the discomfort, engaged with its source and...
@ticho 2/2 ...and used it to strengthen your principles when it would have been more gratifying to lean into an instinct to outrage and defensiveness. Thank you for your part in our conversation.