Canada

There are a few reports coming in from this thread. I'm open to changing my mind on any of the following, but the reason why I haven't taken action on a few of the reports is as follows:

I think that it is both valid to question why these people are covering their faces, while also noting that covering your face isn't "bad" in all cases. The same comment ("if they think they're right, why hide their faces") is also used against protestors when they push against the government. Based on the context, I think that's the point that the other users in this thread wanted to make, but did so poorly. I don't think those other users are in support of the white nationalists in the post, but rather they picked a bad example.

The difference between the two situations comes down to why the face is covered and what power that serves. Generally:

• In rallies such as this, the face covering is for intimidation and group identity, and using anonymity to threaten the targeted minority group. It is also intended to hide the person from their community members, because of shame and embarrassment.
• In protests, the face covering is to avoid retaliation from the authority figures that the person is protesting against. They rarely hide their thoughts and feelings about the matter from their community members.

Again, there is some overlap, but that it is why it's usually more valid to criticize the former and not the latter.

As for the second argument, I think there is a misunderstanding between 'human trafficking' and 'human smuggling'. Human trafficking is almost always defined as the exploitative practice, where the person being moved is being harmed. Human smuggling can take different forms, but it is not necessarily harming the person being moved. The example of the Underground Railroad and the networks that help refugees and victims escape harm, those would fall under the label of "Human Smuggling", but the terms are often confused.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_smuggling

So overall I think the issues in this thread come from users making errors, rather than malice, and so I haven't taken specific moderation actions. But again, open to changing my mind and taking action if more info is brought to light.