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It's bizarre to me that the government seems to expect Facebook to regulate speech, particularly around the election, when no matter what they do on that front,
by awillen 6y ago
It's bizarre to me that the government seems to expect Facebook to regulate speech, particularly around the election, when no matter what they do on that front, one party will accuse them of bias.
I really wish that when Zuck was at the hearing about this, he had just said something along the lines of, "We want people to be able to post things that are true and not post things that are false. The problem is even you people in the Senate can't agree on what's true, so instead you're trying to make us, a private company, the arbiter of what's acceptable to say as it relates to US elections. Doesn't that seem insane to you? Let's do this - you guys form a bipartisan committee of Facebook truth deciders. When there's controversy over whether a post is true or not, we'll kick it over to you guys, and you let us know whether to keep it up or remove it. If a bipartisan Senate committee can't agree on what the truth is, then you all agree to stop complaining about the decisions we make on that front. Isn't that better than having a private company control election-related speech?"
- mam2 6y agoZuck would be insane to that. Even if the situation is crazy its better for him to control it than to let it in the hands of the senate.
- Kalium 6y agoOne of the things you absolutely cannot do, in the face of powerful people, is tell them that they are the problem. It gives them a common enemy - you. Humiliating them with the patent silliness of their positions just ads rage to the volatile mixture.
- awillen 6y agoThey've already made him the common enemy and are filled with rage about whatever they've deigned to be censorship. At least in highly-televised public hearings, you have the opportunity to impress upon the public the insanity of their elected officials' positions.
- tw04 6y ago> The problem is even you people in the Senate can't agree on what's true They absolutely can agree on what’s true. What they can’t do is admit what’s true when it’s politically inconvenient. Look at all the republicans who called out Trump for being a horrible human being before he was elected who now bow before him. Do you really think the last four years made Lindsey Graham decide he misjudged Trump’s character?
- awillen 6y agoI'm talking about facts, not character judgements. There are Senators (or at least there were during the time of the hearing I'm referencing) who absolutely thought that Covid was no worse than a bad flu, science be damned.
- reducesuffering 6y agoThought? This is still going on for many Republican congressmen and congresswomen.
- tw04 6y agoAgain, reality doesn’t match your claims. There would have been exactly zero stimulus bills if the senators claiming COVID were a hoax actually believed it was a hoax. They say what’s politically convenient.