> What is true or false isn't always clear While the veracity of a statement is important, the problem is not really about "misinformation". Technologists and

> What is true or false isn't always clear While the veracity of a statement is important, the problem is not really about "misinformation". Technologists and intellectuals are used to viewing speech as an form of information transfer. However, speech can also be performative[1]; saying "not-guilty" to a judge or "I do" during your wedding are not really about conveying information - by saying those statements you are performing an action. Falsely shouting "fire" is a false statement, but the problem happens when that statement is also functioning as the act of reckless endangerment (or incitement to riot, or whatever). Nobody cares if someone e.g. writes an op-ed that falsely claims the theater is on fire. It's the same misinformation, but the op-ed isn't also functioning as a performative act. Far too often in these discussions, the different form of speech are conflated. A lot of the "balancing freedom vs safety" problem is a false dilemma that becomes a lot easier to reason when speech-as-information is separated from speech-as-action[2]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performativity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performativity [2] Factoring out phatic language is also important ( https://scienceblogs.com/clock/2007/05/31/more-than-just-resistance-of-s https://scienceblogs.com/clock/2007/05/31/more-than-just-res... )