4 ms·

Thank goodness we can hide away and silence dissenting and right wing voices. It's not like that was a big part of what caused Trump to be elected. I really am

by Kenji 10y ago

Thank goodness we can hide away and silence dissenting and right wing voices. It's not like that was a big part of what caused Trump to be elected. I really am glad that google, facebook & co curate what political things we get shown, that fixes democracy once and for all by making us better informed citizens. /s EDIT: To those who do not get free speech at all: By silencing people who spread conspiracy theories, you provide them with the first fact that they might be on to something. Because if they weren't on to something, why couldn't you just provide simple facts to contradict and embarrass the conspiracy theorist?

matt4077 10y ago
You're being sarcastic, but I'm not sure if people weren't better informed in times where just a few organizations were gatekeepers to information. It's undemocratic, I know. They still did a better job. Now, people support parties as if they were sports teams. Politics has become mass entertainment and the relationship between quality and success is so low, I'm unsure if we wouldn't be better of selecting congress in a lottery.
allemagne 10y ago
Even though I do believe that insane right wing propaganda going unchallenged is an actual problem, I agree with you that it's difficult not to view this with worried skepticism and the expectation of further backlash. I tend to think there is no real solution to that sort of thing except being regularly exposed to opposing viewpoints. I definitely don't think a government or a private organization should take it upon themselves to decide what is crazy and what is okay.
delecti 10y ago
> silence ... right wing voices If the only right-wing voices are lies, maybe they deserve to be silenced? That's obviously not the case though. There are legitimate right-wing viewpoints, and more people should hear them, but let's not pretend outright lies deserve that same respect. And as for dissenting voices, that's really not what this is about (at least in theory). I could buy the argument that it's a slippery slope, and that's absolutely something we need to be vigilant about, but Google has reason to value the continued legitimacy of their search results. It's a complicated issue, but I shed no tears for suppressed lies.
scrollaway 10y ago
There's plenty of propaganda on both sides. Quite a bit more on the right wing side most likely because it was, until recently, coming from a losing position. Parent shouldn't have been focusing on "right wing" but neither should you. It's an overarching problem.
Pxtl 10y ago
Conservatives are entitled to their own opinions, just not their own facts.
- grzm 10y ago
  Everyone should be held to that, not just conservatives.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]

by Kenji 10y ago

matt4077 10y ago

You're being sarcastic, but I'm not sure if people weren't better informed in times where just a few organizations were gatekeepers to information. It's undemocratic, I know. They still did a better job. Now, people support parties as if they were sports teams. Politics has become mass entertainment and the relationship between quality and success is so low, I'm unsure if we wouldn't be better of selecting congress in a lottery.

allemagne 10y ago

Even though I do believe that insane right wing propaganda going unchallenged is an actual problem, I agree with you that it's difficult not to view this with worried skepticism and the expectation of further backlash. I tend to think there is no real solution to that sort of thing except being regularly exposed to opposing viewpoints. I definitely don't think a government or a private organization should take it upon themselves to decide what is crazy and what is okay.

delecti 10y ago

> silence ... right wing voices If the only right-wing voices are lies, maybe they deserve to be silenced? That's obviously not the case though. There are legitimate right-wing viewpoints, and more people should hear them, but let's not pretend outright lies deserve that same respect. And as for dissenting voices, that's really not what this is about (at least in theory). I could buy the argument that it's a slippery slope, and that's absolutely something we need to be vigilant about, but Google has reason to value the continued legitimacy of their search results. It's a complicated issue, but I shed no tears for suppressed lies.

scrollaway 10y ago

There's plenty of propaganda on both sides. Quite a bit more on the right wing side most likely because it was, until recently, coming from a losing position. Parent shouldn't have been focusing on "right wing" but neither should you. It's an overarching problem.

Pxtl 10y ago

Conservatives are entitled to their own opinions, just not their own facts.

grzm 10y ago
Everyone should be held to that, not just conservatives.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]