The problem is the line between preventing manipulation, and imposing on people's private thoughts. Poorly-conducted industry-funded research? That's pretty st

The problem is the line between preventing manipulation, and imposing on people's private thoughts. Poorly-conducted industry-funded research? That's pretty straightforward; and in some sense it is not that different from other forms of fraud. I'm okay with punishing people for acting with intent to knowingly mislead. On the other hand, you look at lending, and it becomes a little bit difficult. There are illegal interest rates in many places, and for setting an upper bound, that works fine; but people throw around a lot of dubious allegations about lenders. At some point, if you deny the existence of agency, you end up telling people things you can't know, because you don't have the imagination to consider that they might know what they're doing. That is tyrannical.