Comment by rvnx
16 hours ago
It has a name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoughtcrime
The solution to disinformation is not censorship, it's education and to teach early people on how to critically think by themselves.
16 hours ago
It has a name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoughtcrime
The solution to disinformation is not censorship, it's education and to teach early people on how to critically think by themselves.
It's "thoughtcrime" and "censorship" when they do it. It's "stopping disinformation" and "protecting democracy" when we do it.
That is unfortunately the truth of it. There are distressingly few people in the US these days who actually have a principled belief in freedom of speech. Both the left and the right talk up freedom of speech when they are out of power, but are quite willing to destroy it when they are in power. I would give my left proverbial for a political party that actually protects freedom of speech.
I think the people blocking content in Europe and those "protecting democracy" in the US share most of the same political beliefs.
ATM, nobody is blocking any actual content unless it breaks very specific laws, like CSAM.
Oh please. If a known bad actor is trying to influence your polity, the best solution is to block them.
This does not mean people should not also be educated. That critical thinking is also what leads me to the conclusion this should be blocked.
Believe it or not, removal of content is mandated on the basis of laws that have been passed by the majority of representatives elected by the people. For example, it is a crime in Germany to publicly glorify wars of aggression and use Nazi symbols or deny the Holocaust. It's also a crime to publish child abuse material.
On a side note, setting up a website deliberately designed to circumvent such laws will itself likely violate the law and might lead to criminal prosecution. While the US government will certainly be protected by diplomatic immunity, other people involved probably won't be protected.