3 ms·

Who gets to decide what is a lie? Which is the lie: "Biden won" or "Trump won"? Depends on who is in charge, depends on who gets to decide what "proof" is, depe

Who gets to decide what is a lie? Which is the lie: "Biden won" or "Trump won"? Depends on who is in charge, depends on who gets to decide what "proof" is, depends on who controls the "news" (there is no such thing as news anymore, it is all infotainment click-bait nonsense)

api 5y ago
"The Earth is flat" is not true. If you think the Earth is flat you are wrong. If you tell people the Earth is flat you are lying. I don't like the idea of regulating speech this way, but I am starting to wonder if there's an alternative. I hope I'm wrong, but right now it seems like the emergence of information age digital propaganda has altered the balance of power in some fundamental way. I am deeply concerned about the continued existence of societies that are both free and open. I get the sense that we will be forced to either give up a lot of freedom to restrict speech and discourse or give up all our freedom when unrestricted speech and discourse is exploited by a populist totalitarian to take power. Of course one of the things this new totalitarian regime would do immediately is shut down the systems of free and open discourse they exploited to gain power to make sure nobody else can repeat the same trick.
- snarf21 5y ago
  So is climate change real? Depending on the administration, you will get a different answer. My point is that if you start making it illegal to tell a lie, you may find yourself having to break the law or "tell the truth". In my opinion, the bigger issue is that it is extremely profitable to amplify lies. As long as selling (faux?) outrage keeps the ads flowing, platforms are incentivized to amplify lies and push click-bait. Instead of of trying to outlaw lying, I'd prefer to tax digital advertising to try to make lying less profitable.

3 ms·

Who gets to decide what is a lie? Which is the lie: "Biden won" or "Trump won"? Depends on who is in charge, depends on who gets to decide what "proof" is, depe

by snarf21 5y ago

api 5y ago
"The Earth is flat" is not true. If you think the Earth is flat you are wrong. If you tell people the Earth is flat you are lying. I don't like the idea of regulating speech this way, but I am starting to wonder if there's an alternative. I hope I'm wrong, but right now it seems like the emergence of information age digital propaganda has altered the balance of power in some fundamental way. I am deeply concerned about the continued existence of societies that are both free and open. I get the sense that we will be forced to either give up a lot of freedom to restrict speech and discourse or give up all our freedom when unrestricted speech and discourse is exploited by a populist totalitarian to take power. Of course one of the things this new totalitarian regime would do immediately is shut down the systems of free and open discourse they exploited to gain power to make sure nobody else can repeat the same trick.
- snarf21 5y ago
  So is climate change real? Depending on the administration, you will get a different answer. My point is that if you start making it illegal to tell a lie, you may find yourself having to break the law or "tell the truth". In my opinion, the bigger issue is that it is extremely profitable to amplify lies. As long as selling (faux?) outrage keeps the ads flowing, platforms are incentivized to amplify lies and push click-bait. Instead of of trying to outlaw lying, I'd prefer to tax digital advertising to try to make lying less profitable.