4 ms·

How are they “verifiable” falsehoods? E.g., conspiracy theories are famous for being almost always unfalsifiable. These views usually are a mix of low prior hyp

by Siira 6y ago

How are they “verifiable” falsehoods? E.g., conspiracy theories are famous for being almost always unfalsifiable. These views usually are a mix of low prior hypotheses, politically incorrect semi-truths, marketing propaganda (with few empirical assertions), and lies.

refurb 6y ago
"The NSA is secretly monitoring all communications on the internet" That would have easily been labeled misinformation and disinformation 10 years ago.
- askl56 6y ago
  Likewise with the Jeffrey Epstein story.
- viraptor 6y ago
  And... That's fine I think. Nobody actually knew that, even though many suspected it. Less strict versions of that sentence would be completely fine. Discussing the details of things like their secret rooms at internet exchanges and countermeasures in case it was true would be great too. But it's like people saying "MS is selling all your behaviour data" today, which is likely partially true, but not quite in that way. And when they take that extreme position without having something to back it up, it's hard to / not worth discussing.
- entropea 6y ago
  Iraq war criticism would've been labeled as conspiracy and had warnings below tweets and Youtube videos, despite us now knowing there were no WMD's.
  - refurb 6y ago
    Not sure why you're down voted. It's a good example. The whole "Saddam was buying yellowcake" was completely false, yet the only evidence was a gov't statement saying it was true. If someone said "that's a lie", it would likely have been viewed as disinformation, but it would have been the truth.
    - entropea 6y ago
      Not sure why you're being downvoted either. This scenario is completely true and it absolutely would've been marked as disinformation by Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc. It's being marked as disinformation now by Hacker News members without any actual discussion as to why. It's a very valid scenario and a great topic of discussion.
- saalweachter 6y ago
  "Trying." "Trying to monitor all communications on the internet."
TylerE 6y ago
Like the knowledge that the Mueller investigation got criminal convictions on a number of Trump associates including Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Rick Gates and a couple dozen Russians?

by Siira 6y ago

refurb 6y ago

"The NSA is secretly monitoring all communications on the internet" That would have easily been labeled misinformation and disinformation 10 years ago.

askl56 6y ago
Likewise with the Jeffrey Epstein story.
viraptor 6y ago
And... That's fine I think. Nobody actually knew that, even though many suspected it. Less strict versions of that sentence would be completely fine. Discussing the details of things like their secret rooms at internet exchanges and countermeasures in case it was true would be great too. But it's like people saying "MS is selling all your behaviour data" today, which is likely partially true, but not quite in that way. And when they take that extreme position without having something to back it up, it's hard to / not worth discussing.
entropea 6y ago
Iraq war criticism would've been labeled as conspiracy and had warnings below tweets and Youtube videos, despite us now knowing there were no WMD's.
- refurb 6y ago
  Not sure why you're down voted. It's a good example. The whole "Saddam was buying yellowcake" was completely false, yet the only evidence was a gov't statement saying it was true. If someone said "that's a lie", it would likely have been viewed as disinformation, but it would have been the truth.
  - entropea 6y ago
    Not sure why you're being downvoted either. This scenario is completely true and it absolutely would've been marked as disinformation by Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc. It's being marked as disinformation now by Hacker News members without any actual discussion as to why. It's a very valid scenario and a great topic of discussion.
saalweachter 6y ago
"Trying." "Trying to monitor all communications on the internet."

TylerE 6y ago

Like the knowledge that the Mueller investigation got criminal convictions on a number of Trump associates including Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Rick Gates and a couple dozen Russians?