Yeah, I see it as a radical anti-establisment resource. I would not call it a complete nonsence though, for me it's a place where you can "get" thinking of folks who are opposing "the System". So there is some value.
I'm not political or activist of any kind. However sometimes it makes sense to get understanding how other people think, so sometimes I read comments here and there.
HN has its own bias as well. Usually the quality of discussion here is quite high though.
I'm from Russia (currently in Moscow), and I can read your comment just fine without VPN. BBC won't open... which is fine, as I jump straight to comments as many do here :))) .
Also do not miss twitter and facebook. Youtube is working (so far) with no ads.
Also stuff like WaPo is perfectly acessible. Sometimes I skim through it (also mostly comments), then check ZeroHedge to get the opposite view.
So a lot of info is acessible. Quite a few of resources are blocked on the other side though.
I surely can use VPN but prefer not to unless that required for more intellectual activity then reading news.
I'm not political or activist of any kind. However sometimes it makes sense to get understanding how other people think, so sometimes I read comments here and there.
HN has its own bias as well. Usually the quality of discussion here is quite high though.