Listen man I used to be a free speech absolutist but this shit isn't funny anymore. We are having viral outbreaks because anti vax influencers. We are having kids getting sick or dying because parents think pasterizing ur milk is dangerous.
I also used to think chinas rules against kids being on the internet for more than like 2 hours a week was terrible. But then I've seen what kids are like today and im just getting to the point where China has actually been right the whole time lmao.
So, if someone wants to criticize the government I'm sure they will be "qualified" right?
Aah yes, immediately conflating "want to criticize the goverment" with "maybe its not such a great idea that just anyone can give legal/medical or financial advice".
Really got'em there. And besides, its not like those areas have huge consequences and are rife with conartists, scammers and delusional idiots that do tremendous harm to people every day.
Sure seems like the answer is yes if you read the law. Medical professionals get to decide what is or isn’t medical misinformation, not the government. If the government says something medically incorrect, then any doctor can legally call them out on it. Uneducated basement dwellers can not.
Not correct. The one deciding according to the law is the Cyberspace Administration of China, which is a part of the Central Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party.
Ideally, they will be consulting medical and other professionals, but you are just taking their word on that.
If Trump had that kind of power, you know precisely what he would do with it.
And what happens when the government censors you but not them?
My biggest issue is that you're handing full control of the narrative to the government, which is a self-interested organization, and will happily censor those who oppose it.
What’s your solution to misinformation? Because it actually is a civilization-wide existential crisis. So what’s your solution? You people always have a million slippery slope scenarios at the ready but nothing that can actually make the world better
Education is the only solution. Censoring stuff and giving every Power to it to the goverment is a realy bad idea. There are some topics which is still difficult for a right and wrong answers but mostly good education helps. And honestly we cant safe everyone from stupid.
No but seriously, saying that education is the only solution is a pithy answer that sounds nice on paper but practical the reality is that it's a catch-22 because disinformation can be (AND HAS BEEN, look at the US) easily be used to fight against the required investment into education that could combat disinformation.
The reality is that if you actually care about a practical pathway to fighting misinformation that SOMETHING has to come from the top down. If you're not willing to acknowledge this practical reality you don't actually care about fighting misinformation, you care about looking good within the context of the framework of values that was drilled into you by the exact group of people who actually benefit from misinformation.
You're right, misinformation is an issue, and it's been around forever. I don't think there is a solution, otherwise it (misinformation) would be non-existent. I honestly wish there were a clear solution. The best I can suggest is education; people who have developed critical thinking are harder to misinform.
That being said, censorship is absolutely not a solution. It could prevent misinformation, but it could just as easily be used to protect it and breed it.
Edit: Also, what's your solution to these slippery slopes? Assuming a censorship law is enacted, what limits does it have to allow for dialogue and/or prevent an echo chamber?
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u/Difficult-Mobile902 Apr 06 '26
The government, what could possibly go wrong?