← Back to context

Comment by anonymars

5 days ago

Cigarettes and their externalities are analogous and that's discussed over here

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47419870

I don't believe the argument was that personalized algorithmic recommendations need be forbidden per se, but that doesn't mean that should be the default, nor that companies should be able to wash their hands (under section 230) of what they promote

3 comments

anonymars

Reply
fluoridation  5 days ago

Like the other person said, cigarettes are not illegal. Are we really going to pretend that whatever harm TikTok causes is comparable to lung cancer?

  • anonymars  5 days ago

    Like the other posts you're arguing against have said, the argument is not that social media or personalized algorithms should be "illegal"

    And "are we going to pretend" is a non-argument that works both ways: "Are we really going to pretend individualized algorithmic social media hasn't caused harm to society on par with smoking?" would be equally unconvincing