4 ms·

Labelling is one thing (putting a warning underneath posts with the current understanding of a given topic), but the step too far (in my opinion) was the silenc

Labelling is one thing (putting a warning underneath posts with the current understanding of a given topic), but the step too far (in my opinion) was the silencing and deplatforming by way of removing posts and banning users. No company should have unfettered control over the metaphorical "town square" to control population-level discourse.

JetAlone 5y ago
Ahhhh, it's not a town square. It's Mordor, the panopticon. And we're just a horde of orcs wondering when meat's back on the menu.
- ngc248 5y ago
  We are in fact the meat.
  - JetAlone 5y ago
    Actually, there's a totally apt device in LOTR already: the palantíri. https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Palant%C3%ADri https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Palant%C3%ADri Except instead of there being only seven, Sauron mass-produced them and now everyone has one, maybe two. Hardly nobody even meets at the Prancing Pony anymore, at least without a palantíri call first.
seattle_spring 5y ago
Then the "town square" would become completely overrun with hateful people yelling falsehoods through microphones. Normal people would avoid the "town square" like the plague.
- spookthesunset 5y ago
  I agree. But wait until you have rational thoughts that get you banned and deplatformed for “misinformation”. I didn’t think it would ever happen to me until it did… there is definitely a balance between keeping toxic crap off a forum and labeling everything the admins happen to disagree with as “misinformation”
  - seattle_spring 5y ago
    What specifically did you say that got you banned?
    - spookthesunset 5y ago
      Posting public data from the county Covid dashboard. “It’s dangerous” I was told.
      - JetAlone 5y ago
        The most concise word for that is not misinformation, it's malinformation; true information spread with an intent to cause harm. https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.brookings.edu%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F07%2F200706_global_twitter_fig4.png&f=1&nofb=1 https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2F... It's fine because you didn't intend to harm anyone, but now that you know it's dangerous, if you kept spreading that public data, we would know you intended harm and your behaviour would be rightly considered malinformation. That would be double plus bad.
- jimmydorry 5y ago
  People of the past would consider our crowded city town spaces completely overrun. I can't speak for your specific locality, but when I go to mine, I always see that there are several people with a microphone proselytising or screaming about the end of the world. Perspective changes over time, and I have no doubt that the "town squares" will adapt into forms unrecognizable to those of us alive now, but to simply throw our hands up in the air a cede all control of public discourse to unaccountable entities is an abhorent thought.

JetAlone 5y ago

Ahhhh, it's not a town square. It's Mordor, the panopticon. And we're just a horde of orcs wondering when meat's back on the menu.

ngc248 5y ago
We are in fact the meat.
- JetAlone 5y ago
  Actually, there's a totally apt device in LOTR already: the palantíri. https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Palant%C3%ADri https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Palant%C3%ADri Except instead of there being only seven, Sauron mass-produced them and now everyone has one, maybe two. Hardly nobody even meets at the Prancing Pony anymore, at least without a palantíri call first.

seattle_spring 5y ago

Then the "town square" would become completely overrun with hateful people yelling falsehoods through microphones. Normal people would avoid the "town square" like the plague.

spookthesunset 5y ago
I agree. But wait until you have rational thoughts that get you banned and deplatformed for “misinformation”. I didn’t think it would ever happen to me until it did… there is definitely a balance between keeping toxic crap off a forum and labeling everything the admins happen to disagree with as “misinformation”
- seattle_spring 5y ago
  What specifically did you say that got you banned?
  - spookthesunset 5y ago
    Posting public data from the county Covid dashboard. “It’s dangerous” I was told.
    - JetAlone 5y ago
      The most concise word for that is not misinformation, it's malinformation; true information spread with an intent to cause harm. https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.brookings.edu%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F07%2F200706_global_twitter_fig4.png&f=1&nofb=1 https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2F... It's fine because you didn't intend to harm anyone, but now that you know it's dangerous, if you kept spreading that public data, we would know you intended harm and your behaviour would be rightly considered malinformation. That would be double plus bad.
jimmydorry 5y ago
People of the past would consider our crowded city town spaces completely overrun. I can't speak for your specific locality, but when I go to mine, I always see that there are several people with a microphone proselytising or screaming about the end of the world. Perspective changes over time, and I have no doubt that the "town squares" will adapt into forms unrecognizable to those of us alive now, but to simply throw our hands up in the air a cede all control of public discourse to unaccountable entities is an abhorent thought.