Editing Godwin's law (section)

==Generalization, corollaries, and usage==
Godwin's law can be applied mistakenly or abused as a distraction, a diversion, or even [[censorship]], when miscasting an opponent's argument as [[hyperbole]] even when the comparison made by the argument is appropriate.<ref>{{cite web |first=David |last=Weigel |title=Hands Off Hitler! It's time to repeal Godwin's Law |work=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]] |date=July 14, 2005  |url= http://www.reason.com/news/show/32944.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090715142410/http://www.reason.com/news/show/32944.html |archive-date=July 15, 2009}}</ref> Godwin has criticized the over-application of the adage, claiming that it does not articulate a [[fallacy]], but rather is intended to reduce the frequency of inappropriate and hyperbolic comparisons:<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.jewcy.com/post/i_seem_be_verb_18_years_godwins_law |title=I Seem to Be a Verb: 18 Years of Godwin's Law |date=April 30, 2008 |work=Jewcy.com |access-date=April 16, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130115035303/http://www.jewcy.com/post/i_seem_be_verb_18_years_godwins_law |archive-date=January 15, 2013}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Although deliberately framed as if it were a [[Scientific law|law of nature or of mathematics]], its purpose has always been rhetorical and [[Pedagogy|pedagogical]]: I wanted folks who glibly compared someone else to Hitler to think a bit harder about [[the Holocaust]].}}

In 2021, [[Harvard University|Harvard]] researchers published an article showing that the Nazi-comparison phenomenon does not occur with [[Statistical significance|statistically meaningful]] frequency in [[Reddit]] discussions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harrison |first=Stephen |title=Has Godwin's Law, the Rule of Nazi Comparisons, Been Disproved? |work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |date=January 24, 2022 |url= https://slate.com/technology/2022/01/godwins-law-research-disproven-history.html |access-date=April 23, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fariello |first1=Gabriele |last2=Jemielniak |first2=Dariusz |author-link2=Dariusz Jemielniak |last3=Sulkowski |first3=Adam |date=December 12, 2021 |title=Does Godwin's law (rule of Nazi analogies) apply in observable reality? An empirical study of selected words in 199 million Reddit posts |url= http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14614448211062070 |journal=[[New Media & Society]] |volume=26 |pages=389–404 |issn=1461-4448 |publisher=[[Sage Publishing]] |doi=10.1177/14614448211062070 |s2cid=245035602}}</ref>

Godwin's law has many [[Corollary|corollaries]], some considered more canonical (by being adopted by Godwin himself)<ref name="Godwin95canonical version" /> than others. For example, many newsgroups and other Internet discussion forums have a tradition that, when a Nazi or Hitler comparison is made, the thread is finished and whoever made the comparison loses whatever [[debate]] is in progress.<ref>{{cite news |last=Chivers |first=Tom |title=Internet rules and laws: The top 10, from Godwin to Poe |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=October 23, 2009 |location=London |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6408927/Internet-rules-and-laws-the-top-10-from-Godwin-to-Poe.html}}</ref> This idea is itself sometimes mistakenly referred to as Godwin's law.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Datta |first=N. |title=Godwin's Law – How Adolf Hitler Is Mathematically Connected To Internet Forum Discussions |date=June 20, 2017 |url= https://trove42.com/godwins-law-how-adolf-hitler-is-mathematically-connected-to-internet-forum-discussions/ |work=Trove 42 |access-date=February 13, 2024}}</ref> 

Godwin rejects the idea that whoever invokes Godwin's law has lost the argument, and suggests that, applied appropriately, the rule "should function less as a conversation ender and more as a conversation starter."<ref name="LAT 2018-06">{{cite web |last=Godwin |first=Mike |author-link=Mike Godwin |title=Op-Ed: Do we need to update Godwin's Law about the probability of comparison to Nazis? |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=June 24, 2018 |url= https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-godwin-godwins-law-20180624-story.html |access-date=July 24, 2020}}</ref> In an interview with ''[[Time (magazine)|Time Magazine]]'', Godwin said that making comparisons to Hitler would actually be appropriate under the right circumstances:<ref name="time">{{cite magazine | url=https://time.com/4837881/godwin-law-interview-2017/ | title=Should You Call Someone Hitler? Here's What the Man Behind Godwin's Law Thinks | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date=June 29, 2017 | accessdate=February 13, 2024 | author=Hoffman, Ashley}}</ref>

{{blockquote|I urge people to develop enough perspective to do it thoughtfully. If you think the comparison is valid, and you've given it some thought, do it. All I ask you to do is think about the human beings capable of acting very badly. We have to keep the magnitude of those events in mind, and not be glib. Our society needs to be more humane, more civilized and to grow up.}}

In August 2017, while commenting on the [[Unite the Right rally]] in [[Charlottesville, Virginia]], Godwin himself endorsed and encouraged social-media users to compare its "[[alt-right]]" participants to Nazis.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gilbert |first=Alexandre |title=Godwin's Law & the Nazi Cosplay Hobbiysts |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |date=August 17, 2017 |url= http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/godwins-law-the-nazi-cosplay-hobbiysts/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Mandelbaum |first=Ryan F. |title=Godwin of Godwin's Law: 'By All Means, Compare These Shitheads to the Nazis' |work=[[Gizmodo]] |date=August 13, 2017 |url= https://gizmodo.com/godwin-of-godwins-law-by-all-means-compare-these-shi-1797807646 |access-date=December 26, 2023}}</ref>

Godwin has denied the need to update or amend the rule. In June 2018, he wrote, in an opinion piece for the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'': "It still serves us as a tool to recognize specious comparisons to Nazism&nbsp;– but also, by contrast, to recognize comparisons that aren't."<ref name="LAT 2018-06" />
Additionally, when a potential subject of Godwin's law seems "intent on making the Hitler comparison",<ref name="washington post">{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/09/24/trump-hitler-rhetoric-comparison/ | title=Trump gets compared with history's great villain because his rhetoric is that bad | newspaper=Washington Post | date=September 24, 2024 | accessdate=September 24, 2024 | author=Rampell, Catherine}}</ref> the comparison with fascism may be appropriate rather than devaluing the argument; a "[[MAGA]]" corollary to the Law recognizes the pernicious embrace of Nazi-inspired tropes and phrases by the "[[alt-right]]".

In 2023, Godwin published an opinion in ''[[The Washington Post]]'' stating "Yes, it's okay to compare Trump to Hitler. Don't let me stop you."<ref>{{Cite news |last=McHugh |first=Calder |date=19 December 2023 |title='Trump Knows What He's Doing': The Creator of Godwin's Law Says the Hitler Comparison Is Apt |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/12/19/godwins-law-trump-hitler-00132427 |work=Politico}}</ref> In the article, Godwin says "But when people draw parallels between Donald Trump’s 2024 candidacy and Hitler’s progression from fringe figure to Great Dictator, we aren’t joking. Those of us who hope to preserve our democratic institutions need to underscore the resemblance before we enter the twilight of American democracy."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Godwin |first1=Mike |title=Yes, it's okay to compare Trump to Hitler. Don't let me stop you. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/20/godwins-law-trump-hitler-comparisons/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=22 November 2024 |date=20 December 2023}}</ref>