Mass surveillance silences minority opinions, according to study
HN is the most intelligent and open minded online community of this size that I know online. 
I have deep respect for you guys and girls and your opinions are always enlightening and thought provoking. 
I really feel much smarter because I have access to all these very valid points of view that you are surfacing.<p>But even this community suffers from this strange phenomena of &quot;group think&quot; which leads me to go into this spiral of silence.<p>I often find myself self-censoring or abandoning the comment halfway, because I know it will get down voted and it&#x27;s just a waste of time.<p>And I&#x27;m not talking about trolling or being aggressive or flaming..<p>Some opinions are just not accepted here on HN and the comment will get down voted fast regardless of how politely or respectfully you try to put it.<p>This is my 3rd HN account - I&#x27;ve abandoned the others (with lots of karma on them) specifically as a protest for (what I thought were) valid opinions being down voted and dismissed.<p>For example, mentioning ideas that some tech might be bad or harmful - that people are addicted to devices, that tech is causing widespread pollution - and the likes - are quickly buried, even though in my view these are subjects which we must openly discuss, since they widely affect us all.<p>Which brings me to the thought: If one of the most intelligent and open minded online communities can exhibit censorship or can determine users to self-censor, then what can be said about other communities&#x2F;platforms ?