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There are armed groups at state capitols spreading dangerous misinformation about COVID-19 that will almost certainly cause people to get sick and die. That mis
by mbgerring 7y ago
There are armed groups at state capitols spreading dangerous misinformation about COVID-19 that will almost certainly cause people to get sick and die. That misinformation effort is coordinated and well-funded.
Whatever hypothetical you want to argue about censorship, you need to grapple with the fact that we face a persistent and aggressive misinformation threat, and combating it is part of the public health response to COVID-19.
- sneak 7y agoCensorship is the naive and ineffective non-solution to the problem of coordinated misinformation campaigns. It’s sort of like torture: even if it worked for the problem it is trying to solve, it would debase us as human beings to try to use it. To top that off, it doesn’t work.
- mbgerring 7y agoWhat do you suggest as an alternative? What would you have done in the situation where Facebook was used as a platform to incite pogroms against Muslims in Myanmar[1]? If we have a better solution in an emergency than censorship, I haven't heard it suggested. 1. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/technology/myanmar-facebook.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/06/technology/myanmar-facebo...
- sneak 7y agoFacebook is a communications tool. It does not incite violence by anyone or against anyone else any more or less than any comparable communications tool. That violent people use it is not an issue with Facebook or reason to censor it, any more than the fact that violent people using cellphones is a reason to tap every cellphone. The alternative to censorship is... not censoring.