"A country that cherishes free speech shouldn’t be eager to stamp out the ability of millions to express themselves on their site of choice. The United States should also be wary of setting a worldwide precedent wherein a democracy blacklists firms based primarily on where they come from."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/21/tiktok-china-ban-congress-surveillance/
@drewharwell It sounds great in a perfect world, but we have a misinformation and disinformation problem that needs to be addressed. How do we do both?
@scottwahlstrom The best answer to bad speech is more good speech.
And this ban has nothing to do with misinformation. It's about unsubstantiated concerns of spyware from China.
@LouisIngenthron I don’t disagree with you, but I do observe that social media has turned good versus bad (speech) into a circus that amplifies extremism and drowns out the mundane but reasonable majority. Enormous quantities of information are harvested and exploited (spyware, you say) by the companies that run these platforms. Certain national actors (Russia, China, Iran…) Demonstratably manipulate the information space. I’m OK with the US government addressing that.
@scottwahlstrom Most of that predates the internet (yellow journalism, literal witch hunts, etc.), and exists offline today (talking heads "news", rewards programs, etc.).
Also, your concerns are shockingly similar to the outcry that surrounded the invention of the printing press.
It seems to me that your concerns are less to do with social media, and more to do with human nature. Social media just exposes that nature, which, I'd argue, is a good thing. Can't fix what festers in the dark.
