I've seen an ai generated image of the interaction already on Twitter, so basically right now. I'm sure someone will have a version that looks similar to the surveillance footage but speeds up the car or edits something by next week?

Or how about the fact that somehow this vast surveillance apparatus seems to function perfectly when it is being used against ordinary people, fails constantly when it is needed to protect them, and somehow never catches a single person in the ultra-wealthy elite?

Dang and the power users would keep flagging “politics” off the front page from their employer’s private bunkers, even if every major American city were under occupation and civilians were being shot in the hundreds, it’s not concerning to them as long as they’re not personally at risk.

PG’s hacker ethos seems to have been boiled down to “fuck you, got mine”.

Agreed, and the impact, culture, and law around the rise of distributed smartphone video by citizens is especially relevant in a universe where the Justice Department has called filming immigration officers "obstruction of justice" and even "domestic terrorism" (https://reason.com/2025/12/26/justice-department-says-filmin...)

>I know a certain set of HN users doesn't like to discuss "politics"

I think what certain users dislike (for some reason) is government politics or social justice politics unless it's a topic they care about.

How was that post hacker news in any way?

There is no blanket ban on politics. The guidelines only say "Most stories on politics" are off topic. The top guideline is that if it "gratifies intellectual curiosity" then it is okay. Even the tech angle is not mandatory, unless you believe that politics is just inherently unable to be the object of curiosity (to each his own but I would disagree with that).

The current flag system is crap. You can't vouch for something until it's dead and has disappeared ...

Here is my tech angle: AI disinfo is already out in full force but the non-techies cannot even conceptualize. This is not some superiority complex but the fact that even navigating the UI of a simple app like Reddit can be daunting for newer users, let alone understanding the level of manipulation that goes on at even the smallest level in these programs (many, multiple full-time smart people on this stuff). I feel that this is one of the few places on the English-speaking internet (public that is) that really understands how far-reaching AI disinfo is and why discussion is important to happen here. Despite as you mention with, maybe some tampering by HN (though I truly believe HN does a good job walking that line) but look at places like Reddit with institutional moves after moves to push towards a low-trust environment that fundamentally fragments the socialsphere and makes people more scared and confused (with botting, algorithms, government oversight, etc. [where is your transparency report now?]). Call a spade a spade.

To add a more personal opinion here which I also think is correct, all of this is intentional and deliberate and I'm sure there are people "in the know" who this is so obvious to but I'm only 25 and I only start wrapping my head around this stuff by the day. The admin clearly shaped conditions for something like this to happen but also create plausible deniability. You take people who aren't properly-vetted, and want this job, you know what will happen. Especially when you do it at scale, for a long enough time, it's an inevitability. What's the reason? Well the most scary thing I've noticed is how it's drawn a line. The other side, they're human and maybe find themselves trapped in a position but the chips are coming down. This is forcing people to take a stand that they might not agree with to remain in their community, their families, and even keep their careers, to take the step themselves of being ok with cold-blooded murder.

All this to say, for the "bad thing" to happen, it doesn't just happen, it needs to be tested and proved and honestly, no one knows exactly how to get there (though we have some historical examples to look at). So the administration is testing, proving, prodding, deliberately to shape things so the conditions for the "bad system" can arise. A bit the breaking the seals in revelation except the seals are our moral composure as a society and the rule of law. This is a big step in that direction of badness and viewing r/conservative on Reddit (very botted), you can see how dire the party line has become. That's my theory at least.

I think a point on top of this, is that the bar for "what is political" has become arbitrary. To your point, the MAHA movement is incredibly political, but for some reason gets a pass on what is considered "political" even though it's literally put forth by political actors.

The current administration frequently gets away with pretending like they're not "political" and that only the people reacting/responding to them are political even though they are definitionally political.

And the kinds of things that are defined as political seem to only be completely valid criticisms of the government, because they're "controversial".

The number of people who claim to be non-political and are actually just conservative libertarians (I know what site I'm on) feels like it's sky-rocketed, and I would like to see HN and other platforms start calling this out. No one is non-political in the same way that no one is "color blind". Your politics are just unpopular, and you know it.

> EDIT: what do you know? This post has disappeared from the front page. Currently in the 57th spot on page 2. And yes, "Eat Real Food" remains exactly where it was.

> If you didn't already know about HN's moves to minimize visibility of government wrongdoing, well, you do now.

Yet another reason to always browse the "front page" of HN using https://hckrnews.com which is chronological and uncensored.

HN isn't just broadly a tech discussion site, but is largely focused on the SV/Bay Area startup culture scene that PG and YCombinator play a big role in.

The fact is, the current authoritarian political movement in the USA is being largely funded and driven by political extremists in our own community, who have become billionaires through tech, and are using their significant resources to inflict their personal fantasies on the rest of the world, without it's permission.

By all accounts, our own Peter Thiel hand selected the current vice president for his position. The very person that today claimed at a press conference that ICE agents have "absolute immunity" and are therefore presumably allowed to murder anyone they want in cold blood without any recourse or accountability. Elon Musk's involvement here needs no explanation.

Musk, Thiel, and their ilk that are often referenced by labels such as "Dark Enlightenment," "Techno Fascists," and "Neo-monarchists" are from and part of our community. Many of us were or still are engineers and business leaders that work or worked for or with them to give them the power and resources they now have. Some of us are even likely working at places like Palantir, developing government surveillance tech designed to accelerate the systematic dismantling of privacy, freedom, and democracy.

To now pretend that this has nothing to do with us and we don't talk about things like this when people are being shot in the street, and murderers are being protected by a corrupt government that was in part selected and installed by our own community is morally reprehensible. As a community, we need to take some responsibility here, and not censoring uncomfortable facts will be a good starting point.

Moreover, hacker culture is rooted in a historical ethos of freedom, anti-authoritarianism, and inclusion. If any of that ethos still persists, it goes completely at odds with the current status quo, where we refuse to talk about this issue, while members of our community continue to inflict widespread harm on the world.

I frankly dont a fly f** about those users. They should seek out their safe space if they have a problem.

It works for me

And less than a mile, too. History doesn't repeat itself but it rhymes, etc.

> The world may by some people's estimation be better without the deceased in it

The world would be better without those people in it.

Just look at the response to the Jade Helm exercises to get an idea, and that didn't even involve murdering anyone.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jade_Helm_15_conspiracy_theori...

Um, no, I cannot imagine that.

"The head of Minnesota's state investigations agency says the U.S. attorney's office has cut off its access in the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE agent" seems like very important information.

What was the point of sharing this?

Generally: users flag content.

<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44333094>

Email mods (<hn@ycombinator.com>) if you have concerns.