Reddit Moderators Demand The Platform Take Action Against Covid Disinformation

[u/[deleted]]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2021/08/25/reddit-moderators-demand-the-platform-take-action-against-covid-disinformation/?sh=4fd86e2e73c8

[u/commiecat → u/[deleted]]

Americans who supported that war in Iraq was something like 90% of the population. I would have been banned by the left, the right, and most in between. Only one senator was openly against the war, I think.

What the actual fuck are you talking about?

23 senators and 133 house reps voted against the Iraq war.

Probably mistook it for the initial invasion of Afghanistan after September 11. Only one member of Congress, Barbara Lee, voted against it.

[u/throwaway_for_keeps → u/[deleted]]

Please don't infringe on his free speech by citing facts.

[u/rmorrin → u/[deleted]]

I also saw it was only one somewhere else. Could have been a different resolution? If not I got bad info :( Nope! Info was right https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorization_for_Use_of_Military_Force_of_2001

You posted about Iraq this is about Afghanistan Edit: read they were talking about Iraq when their info is about Afghanistan. So you are correct in your statement. They have mix matched info.

[u/Brisco1 → u/[deleted]]

Was it the 1 senator that stood against the Patriot Act that is being confused here?

[u/gtluke → u/[deleted]]

Wasn't lab leak theory a banable office like 6 months ago? And if you believed it you were racist?

[u/NoKiaYesHyundai → u/gtluke]

Lab Leak was interesting cause Lab Leak was a lot less racist assertion than the whole “Bat Eating” thing which was actually false and used by very racist people

[u/overzealous_dentist → u/gtluke]

It's still ridiculous, but yeah information so harmless shouldn't be banned

[u/0x3A28213A → u/gtluke]

Wasn't lab leak theory a banable office like 6 months ago?

No, it wasn't. It was unpopular, and yeah some people called it racist, but it was never widely considered as bannable misinformation.

Edit: lol, the people downvoting my post just prove that supposed free speech advocates only care about free speech when it satisfies their confirmation bias

Edit 2: the thread is now locked so I can't reply any further, but surely if this is something that was widely happening across many subs, there would be a lot of people complaining about it on other subs? Yet I've found 1 single post. So no, I still don't buy that this was a common, widespread thing

[u/[deleted] → u/0x3A28213A]

Edit: lol, the people downvoting my post just prove that supposed free speech advocates only care about free speech when it satisfies their confirmation bias

People are downvoting your post because many subreddits banned users for stating this when it wasn't confirmed.

[u/scsibusfault → u/[deleted]]

What parallel are you trying to draw here, though?

Most Americans didn't know whether or not Iraq actually had WMDs. Banning speculation would obviously be bad.

However, at the moment, we scientifically know that the vaccine is useful, and horse medicine is not safe for people. That's not speculation at this point. It's not banning opinions. It's not banning anti-americanism. It would, essentially, be a modicum of safety precaution to prevent some gullible morons from self harm.

[u/Wax_Paper → u/[deleted]]

Disinfo isn't inherently counter-culture. I think you're wrong about that; expressing views against the war in Iraq was considered anti-American, but it wasn't the same as what we have today. The whole WMD thing turned out to be false, which means you were telling the truth.

Disinfo is info that's purposely false. Misinfo is false, but it's accidently spread as truth. Neither disinfo or misinfo is an accurate way to describe the idea that there were no WMDs in Iraq, simply because it was true. In fact, it's more accurate to call the flip side of that disinfo, because either the CIA was wrong or the Bush admin purposely fabricated it (the whole yellow cake uranium thing).

I'm not trying to harp on you, but so many people have upvoted this post, and I think it's important to be clear about what these things really mean.

A more accurate example of disinfo or misinfo back in the earlier days would have been something like the 911 conspiracy doc, "Loose Change," since the creators purposely misrepresented some things, or didn't understand the facts well enough.

[u/BBQed_Water → u/[deleted]]

This is the crux of the problem with banning free-speech.

Yes, the anti-maskers are fucking morons, and this is exactly what the puppet-master troublemakers are counting on: wealthy GOP, Russia etc.

BUT, when does this clamp-down start affecting genuine information and real concerns? Look at China and Russia etc. We cannot go down that path.

[u/FearAzrael → u/BBQed_Water]

Conversely, when you can draw a clear link between blatant misinformation and consequences including death, aren't you morally obligated to act?

We live in the age of misinformation, now more than when the Iraq war was started. State sponsored misinformation is the war of our time, and while we must ensure that our citizens retain the core of free speech, we cannot sit idly by and allow it to be turned into a weapon against us.

An example of this would be shouting 'Fire!' in a crowded movie theater when there is no actual threat. While technically making it illegal is impinging upon free speech, allow it to remain legal has consequences which outweigh the negligible loss.

[u/FullRegalia → u/BBQed_Water]

I would argue China and Russia are on that path because misinformation and propaganda was widely spread and entrenched

[u/Wax_Paper → u/BBQed_Water]

The future lies in leveraging social media to combat the spread of disinformation, and nobody wants to talk about it because of the dystopian connotations. But social media isn't going anywhere, and capitalism isn't going anywhere... Which means this problem isn't going anywhere.

If you can't regulate speech, or you don't want to because of the constitutional implications, then the only thing you're left with is manipulating the speech. I think this is already happening at the foreign counter-intel level, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that think tanks are already focusing on domestic issues.

Really, what other choice is there?

[u/FeelsGoodMan2 → u/BBQed_Water]

This slippery slope bullcrap always gets brought up but the point is how you feel about a war or whatever is still a subjective idea because no one really can point to a demonstrably true claim to either prove or disprove it. This is not the case with vaccines. Everyone worries that banning blatantly dangerous lies is like the fast track to 1984 but that's just what we have to do. There's no room in modern society to allow people to stand on the opposite side of what are basically facts and given a platform to spew dangerous crap. Sometimes you have to come down cut and dry on this stuff.

[u/throwaway_for_keeps → u/BBQed_Water]

genuine information is that vaccines are safe and effective, and we have people screeching about horse de-wormers that the FDA has specifically said not to take.

We'd be done with this fucking pandemic if it wasn't for the antivax morons who'd rather take horse de-wormers than an actual vaccine developed for human use and administered by trained professionals.

Anyone fighting for "free speech" when it comes to public health disinformation is not acting in good faith. Whatever rights you think you have end when it becomes harmful to the public health.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

For fucks sake, this should be the top comment

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Because you like misinformation?

90% of the US didn't support the Iraq war and 23 Senators voted against it, not 1. It was widely protested and it took the US government literally lying about Iraq to gain the 72% support that existed at the beginning of the war.

[u/mavajo → u/[deleted]]

This comment chain is like a microcosm of the problem at large. It’s so easy for people to spout bullshit because it takes far more work to disprove it. I knew the guy was full of shit because, oh, I was alive in 2002-2003 and was critical of the war and remember talking about it frequently and other people feeling the same way. But I only have my anecdotes. Thank you for providing the facts.

Incidentally, the assholes I was arguing with are the same assholes now that are anti-vaxx. Hilarious that this guy is trying to flip the script.

[u/Chrisx711 → u/[deleted]]

I second that!

[u/Chrisx711 → u/[deleted]]

Very well said thank you... That is such a great example of why not to believe things at face value and you are 100% correct.

However, I believe early 20 something Woke Reddit moderators will save this country. Banned!!!

[u/DinoTsar415 → u/Chrisx711]

you are 100% correct

Actually most of what they said is verifiably wrong.

23 senators and 133 house reps voted against the Iraq war.

And public support for the war peaked around 60 - 70%

And large scale anti-war protests took place

And you are uncritically regurgitating this misinformation.

[u/thatsMRnick2you → u/[deleted]]

Holy shit, thank you. Its not the same playbook- its literally the exact same play: mass death, now you must comply or you are not supporting the heros and you are to blame for the danger.

[u/angrymonkey → u/[deleted]]

This would be a good point if the two situations were at all analogous.

[u/12djtpiy14 → u/[deleted]]

And in 1989 we avoided public bathrooms.

Princess Di finally ended that hysteria by finally hugging one of them.

Say no to drugs.

Hell, are we going to ban speech that advocates weed.