Techdirt’s reader-comment leaderboard for the week went heavy on speech fights, institutional hypocrisy and the kind of political slapstick that requires no embellishment. In a July 12 post, Leigh Beadon named the site’s latest winners for “insightful” and “funny” comments, drawing from discussions across Techdirt stories published earlier in the week.
The top “insightful” spot went to Bloof, commenting on Techdirt’s story about Wikipedia banning one of its co-founders. Bloof argued that the figure had left Wikipedia, launched competing projects that failed to build the same kind of useful community, then returned while attacking the site through right-wing media. The comment framed Wikipedia’s enforcement as a case of rules applying even to a well-known founder. That is the moderation bit people often pretend is mysterious: a community rule either applies to the famous account too, or it is mostly theater.
Second place on the insightful side went to That One Guy, responding to Techdirt’s coverage of ICE rebutting Nazi comparisons while pursuing critics. The comment’s point was brief: the agency’s conduct, as described by Techdirt, did not do much to distance it from the accusation.
Speech laws and porn bans dominated the editor’s picks
Beadon’s first editor’s choice for insight went to Whoever, commenting on Techdirt’s story about Mexico’s speech laws being used by powerful people against critics. The reader compared that pattern with the United Kingdom, pointing to superinjunctions that can block reporting and even disclosure that the order exists. The same comment also cited the U.K.’s strict libel rules and the George Galloway case against the Daily Telegraph as examples of how wealthy or powerful people can restrict criticism.
The second editor’s choice went to Stephen T. Stone, who responded to Techdirt’s story about the FCC general counsel’s claim that the First Amendment permits banning porn. Stone argued that pornography often becomes the first target in broader censorship campaigns because many people hesitate to defend it publicly. The comment also quoted filmmaker John Waters on pornographers fighting for rights.
The funny winners stayed on the reflecting pool
Bloof also took first place in the “funny” category, this time on Techdirt’s post about Trump, the reflecting pool and U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn. The joke pointed back at the motorcade of heavy armored vehicles that crossed the pool before it was refilled, suggesting the responsible person might face trouble if Trump heard about it.
Second place went to Zeus, also commenting on the reflecting-pool episode. Zeus linked the comedy to a narcissist’s supposed attraction to a reflecting pool, which is about as subtle as a convoy on wet stone.
For funny editor’s choices, Beadon selected an anonymous comment on Techdirt’s story about research finding no causal link between Tylenol and autism. The comment joked that time-travel research would be self-testing: if a future version of the researcher failed to appear, the project would have failed.
The final pick went to MrWilson, responding to the FCC general counsel’s complaint, as characterized by Techdirt, that porn is widely available and cheap or free. MrWilson’s punchline was that something had to remain affordable if food, housing, education, energy and other basic needs were not.
This story draws on original reporting from Techdirt.