Users of censorship by Steemit on blockchain of social media "immutable"

Users gathered on Steemit because they wanted an alternative to Facebook and Twitter, which are platforms known for censorship. One of Steemit's strengths is its immutability through its blockchain and the incentives offered to users for participation. However, many have learned today that Steemit is not that different from these other platforms.

9/11 The blackmailers want the bitcoin

Previously, CryptoSlate reported on January 2 that the hacker group, Dark Overlord, was asking for bitcoins in exchange for failing to publish leaked documents for September 11. The group has also extended "support" to property management companies, insurers and other agencies by agreeing not to publish documents relating to their companies, at a price.

Centralization Left the Dark Overlord Disappointed

The Steemit thedarkoverlord user offered a preview of the leaked documents by hosting a message on Pastebin, which had links to the images of the leaked documents online. It seems that their original Pastebin message has been removed.

Further research revealed that the group's handle was also banned on Reddit.

The thedarkoverlord user also stated on PasteBin's announcement of the group that US security agencies were asking Twitter to ban them. No traces of their Twitter account were found on January 8, 2019.

Strategic checkmate?

Saddened by the nature of centralized websites that give way to pressures from government agencies, Dark Overlord finally made an announcement on January 2, 2019, stating that they will release future announcements on Steemit's blockchain to prevent further censorship. They were confident that this would put an end to the bans.

They did not know it, it was not Check mate.

On January 7, 2018, the developer of Steemit jredbeard banned the user from Steemit due to TOS violations. His username was added to a file called GDPRUserList.js.

The controversial prohibition

The Reddit community was furious at the prohibition of the Dark Lord Supreme as "it must be uncensored and unregulated", except it was not. Steemit has its own standard Terms of Service (TOS) that impose controls on the content of the website's host.

Another user has come to call Steemit "crap" after the accident:

Another Redditor pointed out that Steemit could be responsible for everything published on their platform as the company has taken on the role of moderator:

chirping is also lit with accusations of censorship; Steemit users also question the ban. The message is clear, the encrypted enthusiasts are not happy with the move.

According to Pt. 13 of their TOS, Steemit deserves the right to suspend or delete any account without notice if they find a violation of any term of the contract. Step 14. Introduces restrictions on the conduct of the user and prevents users from engaging in services prohibited by law.

This conduct goes directly against what the company has stated in its original white paper.

"Steem is a decentralized network managed by witnesses in jurisdictions all over the world.All user actions are publicly registered on the blockchain and can be publicly verified.This means that there is no single entity that can censor the content that is evaluated by STEEM owners. "

The white paper continues with Steemit's commitment to freedom of speech:

"Freedom of speech is the foundation of all other freedoms and any violation of freedom of speech undermines the only peaceful means to reach consensus: the discussion Without a free discussion, voters can not be fully informed and Uninformed voters pose a greater threat to society than losing the right to vote – censorship is a means of stealing votes by limiting public discourse Steem is committed to allowing freedom of speech and the construction of a free society. "

CryptoSlate has contacted Steemit to have an opinion on this, but so far the company has declined to comment.

Steemit does not offer the kind of decentralization offered by Bitcoin, in which no participant is more influential than the other participants. It should be emphasized that Steemit uses the DPoS Consensus algorithm which allows some delegates to take action without the consent of the community.

Unfortunately, this means that Steemit is not as resistant to censorship as people thought.