Comment by moritzwarhier

Yes I was thinking about mentioning China, but I have not experienced this kind of blatant censorship and control myself. Hoping ofc to keep it that way.

But at the same time, social media brain rot is definitely real, and its hurtful effects on public discourse.

The comparison to early press is warranted to open up this topic and really take a look at reality. Banning specific platforms seems like symbolism at best, but paper press was not personalized in such a fine-grained way, although the bubble phenomenon is not strictly limited to the web.

And no paper journal ever had access to so much personal data of their readers.

I think many debates about this boil down to the question whether we want to merge private and public discourse.

Coincidentally, this is not just a property of social media but also of totalitarianism.