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Much agreed. The marketplace of ideas is not immune to being treated as a public dump.

• krapp 5y ago
  I've never understood why people believe the marketplace of ideas is the only marketplace that shouldn't be regulated. We don't allow companies to sell poison and call it medicine under the belief that rational, self-interested consumers will always choose medicine even if the poison is sweeter. Yet we have to allow disinformation and lies to spread like an untreated cancer and just hope that somehow the truth will prevail.
  • psyc 5y ago
    Whether something is poison is relatively objective. Whether something is disinformation or lies is often a matter of perspective or too difficult to determine. Furthermore, the control of information is about power and manipulation just as disinfo is, which is a can of worms I'm not prepared to write an essay on right now, and does not exist in your poison analogy.
    • Lendal 5y ago
      How about we amend the analogy. You're not allowed to sell unpasteurized milk. Many say unpasteurized milk is better, and healthier. Others say it's dangerous. We (FDA) have collectively decided that despite its health benefits we don't like the risks and have therefore banned it. The can of worms is open. Squiggly worms are all over the place.
    • 0xcde4c3db 5y ago
      > Whether something is disinformation or lies is often a matter of perspective or too difficult to determine. On the other hand, it often isn't too difficult to determine, as with the various videos floating around that allegedly show the Russia-Ukraine war but are readily identifiable as predating it, showing an entirely different location, and/or having audio dubbed over from another source.