Thursday, April 22, 2010

To the trolls "not one inch"*

About a year ago I devoted a few lines to the trolls. For you, my commentators, I now dedicate some more. Obviously the trolls in Octavo Cerco are not exercising freedom of expression, they want to intimidate, insult and threaten. To write in Persian on a Spanish blog and repeat the same nonsense hundreds of times is not a sign of freedom, it is simply verbal violence or virtual sabotage.

Because of all these things to which my readers and I are condemned, I feel I have to explain my reasons for not moderating comments, or more to the point my reasons for not eliminating the trolls, which is the same thing. I ask for your understanding, I know that solidarity is the force that most unites us.

- I have no access to the Internet that would allow me to systematically moderate comments, it is a slow process and requires a lot of connectivity, time and money.

- I do not want to ask anyone else to moderate the blog, I consider it my responsibility.

- In the last months I have experienced several “repudiation rallies” in my real life. Depending on the level of excitement of the primal horde representing the Cuban government, I emerge more or less affected; that is the reality of my life, that is the daily life of those who think differently.

The trolls in my blog exist in the same way that the so-called “rapid response brigades” exist in my reality. It may not be obvious to every web-surfer, but for me they are the way the government has found to contain the tired voices of the longest revolution in the world: insults, threats and punishment.

I have listed my explanations according to their level of importance: perhaps if I could spend more time on the network the third reason wouldn’t even exist. However, for every difficulty that presents itself so that I continue writing, a new idea pops into to my brain and meets the objective part, to say it in another way. I know I am asking you to live every day in a repudiation rally, I know it’s too much.

I apologize and ask you to have the tolerance that neither they nor the government they represent will ever have for any of us.

Translator’s note: Claudia’s original phrase is “ni un tantico asi” which is a phrase used by Che Guevara with regards to the United States: To imperialism… give not one tiny bit… nothing, not a single concession.

1 comment:

John Two said...

Don't let the trolls get you down Claudia.

The remaining few 'true believers' like to turn up the volume whenever the lies of the Castro regime are exposed. The wingnuts also get to exercise their freedom of speech.