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Wouldn't a culture of rumors arising from a distrust of government press be better tackled by establishing freedom of the press rather than adding more restrict

Wouldn't a culture of rumors arising from a distrust of government press be better tackled by establishing freedom of the press rather than adding more restrictions?

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
paradite 11y ago
I do believe freedom of press is the way moving forward. However at the same time, restricting rumours (actual rumours that have no grounds or basis) for the time being would help for people who have less discretion to be better informed.
- tamana 11y ago
  So only the government should be allowed to spread false information?
  - paradite 11y ago
    Can you substantiate your claim?
    - calbear81 11y ago
      The use of propaganda is well established within the PRC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_in_the_People's_Rep...). I'm more interested in the idea that "rumors" are a problem that needs to be tackled and the best way to do so is to ban them and only trust what is coming from the government. Isn't this type of system ripe for abuse? Let's say a rumor was that a certain government official embezzled $100M Yuan, but it was true. Perhaps that would be very embarrassing for the central party and thus they issue a statement saying that is not the case. Isn't it the public that is hurt in this situation?
      - paradite 11y ago
        Hi. Your example, by definition, does not involve rumours. Hence if the government tries to hide it, it is the government's fault and we should blame the government. However, you might not realize that there are many other rumours in China that are not true, and has nothing to do with the government per se, such as a disease outbreak or a certain foreign firm exploiting fellow Chinese people. These are the rumours that we need to fight. I do not expect you to believe me though. After all you would not know any of those without living in China for a few years.

Wouldn't a culture of rumors arising from a distrust of government press be better tackled by establishing freedom of the press rather than adding more restrictions?

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

paradite 11y ago

I do believe freedom of press is the way moving forward. However at the same time, restricting rumours (actual rumours that have no grounds or basis) for the time being would help for people who have less discretion to be better informed.

tamana 11y ago
So only the government should be allowed to spread false information?
- paradite 11y ago
  Can you substantiate your claim?
  - calbear81 11y ago
    The use of propaganda is well established within the PRC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_in_the_People's_Republic_of_China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_in_the_People's_Rep...). I'm more interested in the idea that "rumors" are a problem that needs to be tackled and the best way to do so is to ban them and only trust what is coming from the government. Isn't this type of system ripe for abuse? Let's say a rumor was that a certain government official embezzled $100M Yuan, but it was true. Perhaps that would be very embarrassing for the central party and thus they issue a statement saying that is not the case. Isn't it the public that is hurt in this situation?
    - paradite 11y ago
      Hi. Your example, by definition, does not involve rumours. Hence if the government tries to hide it, it is the government's fault and we should blame the government. However, you might not realize that there are many other rumours in China that are not true, and has nothing to do with the government per se, such as a disease outbreak or a certain foreign firm exploiting fellow Chinese people. These are the rumours that we need to fight. I do not expect you to believe me though. After all you would not know any of those without living in China for a few years.