In my experience if there is a masked protest here in Sweden, it is beacuase people want to riot, even if the initial idea was not to riot, the concept of a masked protest will attract more people who will riot.
You may be living in a country that allows you to protest, but you have created your own mental shackles by buying into an authoritarian narrative against masked protests.
Masks == dangerous potential rioters is not a “free” mindset.
I am going to posit that this says more about your media, and how it is shaping your perceptions in line with someone’s agenda.
“My government is totally fine with protesting, but our media makes it seem as though any masked protest is a precursor to a riot, so I argue against people protesting in masks, but it’s not that the government wants me to argue that and has shaped the media to ensure I do, it’s actually just my free and un-manipulated opinion!”
Have you seen people protesting against Nazis in Sweden? That’s the sort of situation where you do not need to fear the state, but the violent and retributive people you are protesting.
That’s not the point, though, is it? It doesn’t matter if Nazis mask faster. What matters is that there are Nazis and other non-state-actors who will happily try to identify and dox people who get in their way. Such doxxers aren’t even necessarily at the protests. They might be in, say, Russia and looking to shut up pro-Western activists in neighboring countries.
It may be that no one in Sweden is immuno-comprosmied and that no one in Sweden could get hacked or doxxed when their identity is uncovered, but for the rest of the world, there are plenty of reasons a person might want to wear a mask that don’t involve wanting to be riot-ready.
You make it seem like the Nazis are the only one trying to doxx people, both sides are doing this, and I will absolutely cheer for the guys trying to doxx Nazis every day of the week!
This entire debate has been about politics, then you suddenly shift to talk about immunocompromised people which is a different topic.
That was never an issue to me, medical needs take precidence.
It is also clear that you know that once you have a name and general information about a person in Sweden you can easily use services like hitta.se to find their home address including directions to their apartment door.
But this falls apart when you realize that we don’t have an image search for faces.
My point about Nazis masking faster was an admittedly clumbsy way to say that Nazis seem to be the group that embrace masking more than other groups.
The entire second part of your comment drips of sarcasm, and is childish. I am fine with you disagreeing, but argue in an adult manner.
In the end it is clear that neither me nor you will change our oppinion, so this argument is pointless.
Go an have a lovely weekend, I’ll have to clean my flat, I hope you have better plans.
No, numbers make people take a protest seriously.
If you are discounting a cause based on whether the supporters show their faces or not, that’s just you looking for an excuse.
In my experience if there is a masked protest here in Sweden, it is beacuase people want to riot, even if the initial idea was not to riot, the concept of a masked protest will attract more people who will riot.
You may be living in a country that allows you to protest, but you have created your own mental shackles by buying into an authoritarian narrative against masked protests.
Masks == dangerous potential rioters is not a “free” mindset.
I don’t think I have ever seen any masked protest that didn’t devolve into rioting or violence in some way.
That is obviously not exclusive to masked protests, but most unmasked protests I have seen then to be be peaceful.
It is almost as if hiding their identity makes people less restrained.
I am going to posit that this says more about your media, and how it is shaping your perceptions in line with someone’s agenda.
“My government is totally fine with protesting, but our media makes it seem as though any masked protest is a precursor to a riot, so I argue against people protesting in masks, but it’s not that the government wants me to argue that and has shaped the media to ensure I do, it’s actually just my free and un-manipulated opinion!”
Meh, it is obvious that media shapes everyones viewpoint, the same goes for you.
Have you seen people protesting against Nazis in Sweden? That’s the sort of situation where you do not need to fear the state, but the violent and retributive people you are protesting.
Yep, I have seen them, and in my experience it is the little cowardly Nazi bitches who tend to be quicker to mask.
That’s not the point, though, is it? It doesn’t matter if Nazis mask faster. What matters is that there are Nazis and other non-state-actors who will happily try to identify and dox people who get in their way. Such doxxers aren’t even necessarily at the protests. They might be in, say, Russia and looking to shut up pro-Western activists in neighboring countries.
It may be that no one in Sweden is immuno-comprosmied and that no one in Sweden could get hacked or doxxed when their identity is uncovered, but for the rest of the world, there are plenty of reasons a person might want to wear a mask that don’t involve wanting to be riot-ready.
You make it seem like the Nazis are the only one trying to doxx people, both sides are doing this, and I will absolutely cheer for the guys trying to doxx Nazis every day of the week!
This entire debate has been about politics, then you suddenly shift to talk about immunocompromised people which is a different topic.
That was never an issue to me, medical needs take precidence.
It is also clear that you know that once you have a name and general information about a person in Sweden you can easily use services like hitta.se to find their home address including directions to their apartment door.
But this falls apart when you realize that we don’t have an image search for faces.
My point about Nazis masking faster was an admittedly clumbsy way to say that Nazis seem to be the group that embrace masking more than other groups.
The entire second part of your comment drips of sarcasm, and is childish. I am fine with you disagreeing, but argue in an adult manner.
In the end it is clear that neither me nor you will change our oppinion, so this argument is pointless.
Go an have a lovely weekend, I’ll have to clean my flat, I hope you have better plans.