To me that just says he agreed with some good ideas and was influential in their community, which is good. Doesn't read as "hero" though, it just tells me he maybe wanted to do good things. And good intentions are fine and all, but it seems like he got himself pretty dirty trying to further them. Good deeds don't always follow from good intentions.

>and was one of the first to clearly articulate the ability of the Internet to change society.

A few years ago, it would have been considered a given that the Internet’s ability to change society was a good thing. I don’t think people take that position as unequivocally as before.

So in judging Ito, you have “Hypes the Internet” vs “helps normalize the reputation a child rapist”

I am not so sure that the good outweighs the bad

These are nice achievements. Impressive, even. But that's a very low bar for a "hero" imo.

Weird that of all the institutions of the 2000s tech scene, only BoingBoing.net comes out looking good.