Posted on 01/28/2022 4:16:03 AM PST by Kaslin
After being asked by MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski about the alleged misinformation spread by the popular "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast and Facebook users, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy responded with a homily about how "we" must "root out" misleading speech.
"We" don't have to do any such thing. Government officials have no role in dictating appropriate speech or lecturing us on what we can or can't say. In fact, they have a duty not to. Murthy's comments wouldn't be as grating if it weren't so obvious that the Biden administration has been pressuring Big Tech companies, who oversee huge swaths of our daily digital interactions, to limit speech and set acceptable standards.
You might remember that last summer, White House press secretary Jen Psaki causally informed the press that the White House was "flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation." Can you imagine the explosive reaction from the establishment media if it had learned that the Trump White House was keeping a list of speech crimes? White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield also argued that social media companies "should be held accountable" for the ideas of those who use their platforms. resident Joe Biden, who previously accused Facebook of "killing people," this week made a "special appeal to social media companies and media outlets: Please deal with the misinformation and disinformation that's on your shows. It has to stop."
It doesn't. I happen to believe that tech companies should enjoy unencumbered free-association rights and be free to keep or kick off anyone they desire from their product. But that position becomes unsustainable if these same corporations, who often spend tens of millions each year in Washington rent-seeking and lobbying for favorable regulations, also take orders from state officials on permissible speech. And no authentic journalist would turn to a government official for guidance on the matter.
It's bad enough that media outlets have abandoned any commitment to upholding liberal ideals of open discourse -- as they not only act as hall monitors who hound tech companies into self-censorship, as virtually all of them did when the New York Post broke the Hunter Biden story before the 2020 presidential election. Self-censorship is as pernicious as any other variety.
Allowing the state to participate in rooting out "misinformation," however, sets a dangerous precedent that can be easily abused by those in power, even if we were to concede that Murthy was acting in good faith. As we've unfortunately learned during the coronavirus pandemic, health officials will often pass on bad information or politically motivated information.
It doesn't. I happen to believe that tech companies should enjoy unencumbered free-association rights and be free to keep or kick off anyone they desire from their product. But that position becomes unsustainable if these same corporations, who often spend tens of millions each year in Washington rent-seeking and lobbying for favorable regulations, also take orders from state officials on permissible speech. And no authentic journalist would turn to a government official for guidance on the matter.
It's bad enough that media outlets have abandoned any commitment to upholding liberal ideals of open discourse -- as they not only act as hall monitors who hound tech companies into self-censorship, as virtually all of them did when the New York Post broke the Hunter Biden story before the 2020 presidential election. Self-censorship is as pernicious as any other variety.
Allowing the state to participate in rooting out "misinformation," however, sets a dangerous precedent that can be easily abused by those in power, even if we were to concede that Murthy was acting in good faith. As we've unfortunately learned during the coronavirus pandemic, health officials will often pass on bad information or politically motivated information.
It’s a lot more than “grating” it’s totalitarianism.
Yeah rooting out misinformation is not a new idea it was tried in the 1930’s with catastrophic effect. I guess history took a back seat to socialist studies for these kids.
This has to be stopped. We are getting into the 1984 realm really fast. Censoring speech is a huge step towards 2+2=5.
I think it is when government is the source of the misinformation.
What is worse is the realization that if (or once) you're ok with this totalitarian practice then the real question becomes "Who gets to determine what is 'misinformation' or not?"
That person, persons, or entity then gains control over all information. With that you can sway public opinion to all sorts of things and you end up loading people into cattle cars at gunpoint.
No State likes free speech. It is dangerous to the State (Crown).
For most of human history, the crime of insulting the State/Crown was severe. Up to death.
When the elite want to do something unpopular, they can not stand to be mocked.
We will see lesse majeste rules (not laws, but rulings) put in regulatory clarity soon. As well as legal class distinctions.
The lazy rich are scared of the peasants.
When government and corporate social media get together to advance the interests of the state, we get what’s called fascism.
So when idiots come around and say that social media can censor whatever and whomever they want because they’re “private” companies, those individuals are completely blind to the basic structures that create fascism. As such, they become tools and useful idiots toward their own destruction via the fascist state. And innocent bystanders to this fascist charade become victims.
The answer is for government to demand that every social media company treat every media communication the same way that phone companies treat calls - hands off.
The ‘idiots’ are also completely unaware of the difference between being considered a ‘platform’ and a ‘publisher’ - which currently have important legal distinctions.
Check
Ding! Ding! Ding! Winner!!!
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