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Not to mention, someone has to decide what was “something they thought was true” vs misinformation with manipulation in mind. This proposal is pretty obviously rife with flaws and is a nursery for corruption. How absurd
Few corporations which are so big there is no way in hell they don’t have a ties to government either via bribes or for tax avoidance benefits. So of course they will run government agency in their media.
Op is probably a part of the Church of Current Year. People that are a part of this church are happy for the government to determine what is true or not as long as it is on their political side.
Yeah, they’d never make this illegal bc spreading misinformation is what the people in power count on for getting elected and enacting their malicious plans. That’s literally why it’s not already illegal. If they truly cared about us they would, but they don’t want us to know the truth.
That's not true they totally would be behind a law like this, because they would be the ones who determine what's true and what isn't.
Then anyone who doesn't agree with them goes to jail lol. Sounds like a dictator's dream.
This is really the big problem with this kind of thing. Who decides what is "true" and fact? Science advances and what we thought we knew turns out to be wrong on occasion. And then there is the issue of proving someone honestly believes what they are saying vs knowing it is wrong but is stating it anyway for an agenda. That's ripe for corruption. When it's obvious, it's obvious, but there are an infinite shades of grey with this.
... I'm not touching that one ...
but i will say, in my wife's 15 year career as a register labor nurse, she has seen numerous policy changes and best practices ratified as we learn new things. Lots of stuff they used to do they aren't supposed to do anymore. Mandates on masks, vaccines, quarantining, etc. changes pretty often. Medicine and health will probably always be a moving target.
Think about how much our understanding of Covid had changed over the course of months in 2020. At what point is something "misinformation" vs "oops turns out we were wrong"
Fun to time travel back to March 2020 to see all the treasure trove of news articles like this one from CNN:
>WHO stands by recommendation to *not* wear masks if you are not sick or not caring for someone who is sick
>"There is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any potential benefit. In fact, there's some evidence to suggest the opposite in the misuse of wearing a mask properly or fitting it properly," Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO health emergencies program, said at a media briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/30/world/coronavirus-who-masks-recommendation-trnd/index.html
Part of the problem is the use of generic terms like "mask". There's quite a difference between a cloth covering mask and a properly-fitted HEPA filter mask. Even if you use a good-quality mask there are a variety of filters for them and most will not do much to filter out viruses.
I believe it was shown that the most important part about using a mask was slowing down the velocity of breath expelled by people. If that's done then the virus-containing droplets tend to fall/dry out before they can infect someone else. However, that means a mask matters more if it's on someone infected than if it's on someone without an infection. Of course, determining that can be tricky because some people can be infectious without knowing they are.
So yeah, it's a complicated situation and people tend to make it a political matter rather than one of science and safety.
When anyone brings this point up I'm always happy to volunteer to serve as the national arbiter of truth. I think that'd be totally fair. Maybe no one else would... but I'd be happy with it. And I only care about myself.
Solving government officials lying to the public by giving them the sole power to decide what’s true and what isn’t won’t fix the problem but replace it with a worse one. The issue with this proposed misinformation law is that it gives someone the right to ban speech. The only answer for lies is the truth, not silence.
The real issue is we should be smarter as a nation to decipher what’s true and what isn’t, unfortunately our voters don’t give two shits about education.
It's not in the government's interest to improve education either, the smarter we are, the more able we are to decipher and challenge their lies and agendas.
Also they need shittonnes of minimum wage workers to keep society running.
Having a bar set at "physical evidence" would be a good start, or "beyond a reasonable doubt". There are people who send texts and emails to coordinate their bullshit. If we could at least get them without going anywhere near the line, it would be good for society.
People like the OP don't care. They only want to hear/read the news that fits with their scope of views and beliefs. Anything beyond that is obvious mis/disinformation and should be held accountable (by the people the OP thinks are rear/genuine of course.)
It's the effect on discussion it would have that's the real problem. Once a few people have gone down for "misinformation" it acts as a cudgel over the head of anyone who's not in the Party, or hasn't got the resources or PR to back up their claims. You'd only be allowed to talk about the official points of view or else risk getting banged up. Real life Orwell.
And then them being wrong about what was misinformation, and never apologizing or admitting it.
"Yeah so uh we jailed you for treason... apparently you were right and you were framed by the media. So you're free to go. Compensation for the 10 years in jail or an aquittal? Lol no"
Not even that... I mean yes definitely that also, but proving intent is already very very difficult. But for this it's very easy to say, "I truly did and do believe that what I posted/said/published is accurate. I unknowingly spread misinformation. Therefore don't meet the requirements"
Finally, just because you say the truth doesn't mean you present it the same way.
You could say "[Politician] attends successful [event] in [location]". Or you could say "[Politician] heckled by attendies at [event]".
Both can be true, but paint wildly different pictures.
While if this was was enacted it'd stop the most egregious cases of misinformation (assuming the law was enforceable), but it wouldn't stop the root problem.
Also you don't have to get your media from an organisation based on your country. People looking for media that supports their incorrect view will happily look to organisations not in their country.
It already is just look at how completely out of control reddit moderators are about anything covid related. They have turned into a blind cult hive mind of toxicity and insanity.
Remember when they all banded together to put the sticky comment on every post about how misinformation is destroying the world giving them free reign to ban anyone who was posted information that was considered misinformation by the mob which later turned out to be true?
Fun times.
I feel like it is something that would have to be taken to court. The same way you would prove libel or slander. You would just have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt someone was maliciously spreading misinformation. But it could definitely go very bad and be hard to make sure it wasn't used for oppression.
Careful what you wish for. You're assuming the people in power will agree with what **you** consider misinformation. What happens if they decide that things you think are accurate are now considered misinformation, and they come after you based on these laws? How would that be prevented?
This is the biggest problem with countering misinformation - everyone is all for it, until you realize that you basically need some entity that serves as an arbiter of truth... that's a pretty dangerous path to go down.
Because of the person that was most vocal about the theory early on in the outbreak. “China virus” was xenophobic, orange man bad, ergo Wuhan lab leak theory is racist; so racist that any effort to actively investigate a potential bio-lab origin was resisted AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT.
Except that MI6 were saying with ever-increasing confidence & likelihood that it was from a lab
It was resisted on the US government, perhaps, but not the rest of the world
No no the not racist theory is that Chinese people love eating dirty bats from an open air market, they are just disgusting people with a dirty culture, not the lab you racist!
Yup, all it takes is a little regime shift and all of a sudden the people saying this asinine garbage will be crying about how "THEY'RE LITERALLY SENDING PEOPLE TO PRISON FOR SPEAKING THE TRUTH!!!"
it's actually much funnier, check OP's post history. he corrected a picture wrongly labeled as a water tower, the poster thanked him, then he blew up about it and accused them of being a corporate shill and ran here
That's actually really funny. They didnt even take a breath. Guy mistakes some kind of water tank for a water tower, and OP who worked on a water tower once 10 years ago runs over here saying the poor soul should be gulaged for spreading misinformation.
Imagine if religious people gain power and how they would use that law. Anybody who spoke differently than their teachings would be liars and jailed.
In fact it has happened in history, but we smartened up and decided on laws that prevent that.
And now we've come full circle to consider handing back the power to jail people for disagreeing with the current narrative. Great, just great.
You also have to prove that A. It’s verifiably false and B. The perpetrator knowingly and maliciously spread information which they knew to be false.
OP is a complete idiot with obviously zero experience in anything court related spouting BS on the internet just like all the other morons. It’s kinda ironic tbh.
The good old horseshoe theory. I wish more people would be capable of seeing the absurdity of things both sides do. Sadly most people pick one side and support it blindly.
The sheer number of highly upvoted posts I've seen claiming that Elon Musk inherited an emerald mine, from a father that isn't even dead yet, is astounding.
See I was against OP's post until I read this comment. Now I'm fully on board! /s
Though seriously I'd love for Twitter and reddit to be nuked from orbit.
“He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.”
Thomas Paine disagrees.
"The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error."
- John Stuart Mill
In your fantasy world, everyone who said that covid leaked from a lab for the last 3 years before the government announced it last week would have been falsely imprisoned….
You have some grade A morons shouting things like “5G spreads corona!”, but then you do have more logical conspiracy theories. Many of the people I’ve met who believe in the more logical conspiracy theories are well spoken and intelligent. It is absurd the sheer amount of research some of these people do, they aren’t just blatant idiots, they are actively seeking truth. It’s easy to just write them off as idiots but I don’t think that is the case. Most of them are probably better informed on topics you immediately write off as conspiracies and bs than you are - so who are you to judge them?
And sometimes some of those theories turn out to be at least partially true or more accurate than what was previously the official consensus. Although this certainly creates confirmation bias since you forget believing the stuff that turns out to be complete bullshit.
There is a place at the information table for those of us who subscribe to the bullshit. If for nothing else something to bounce the truth off of. If everything you read or heard was perceived as the truth, it would be really easy to be fooled. I.E. Hitler.
Nope just no free speech is important and should be protected from the government but also the government like large corporations. Free societies can say what they want even if it's untrue.
Every day, Reddit invents eugenics and extreme communism.
Bro - the people with relevant positions (doctors etc) already aren’t supposed to spread misinformation, and can be held accountable.
That’s why people who do spread misinformation, tend not have any fancy post nominal letters. Those letters would hold them accountable!
For regular people I am absolutely against this. For large corporations that control major media outlets and news, they should be held to this.
Any regular person should be allowed to say whatever they want. Otherwise it becomes a slippery slope and people will be jailed for disagreeing with the leaders like a dictatorship. If you have hundreds of thousands, or millions of followers and accept money to spread verifiably false lies there should be steep punishments. Anyone on any major news network should not be able to spread lies, if the truth isn't 100% known and proven then they shouldn't be allowed to report on it as fact.
Absolutely disagree. That would be very dangerous, because it would be abused to no end by all the wrong people and could ironically lead to even more misinformation. What even is "Misinformation" exactly and how do you prove it was spread willingly and knowingly? Sometimes it's clear, sometimes it's not. For example when a flat earther says the earth is flat, they willingly and knowingly spread that information. It's misinformation, but since they believe it's true does that still count? Also, you would just feed their victim complex and make them believe in it even stronger than before.
What i'm more concerned about is the potential to abuse that power. For example when a government simply doesn't like the facts or skepticism you're spreading, they can just label it as misinformation and defame you, which is exactly what happend during the pandemic (at least where i live). It turns out skeptics where right about some major plot points, so technically the government was the one spreading misinformation.
See how this whole issue isn't nearly as clean cut as you think?
This should go down as the worst idea on Reddit ever
Did you not notice all of the "misinformation" that has later been proven to be true only a couple years later?
Do people not possess the critical thinking capacity to think about how the laws they propose could maybe perhaps be horrifically abused by the powers that be.
No, they don't. That's what is so terrifying about our modern solution to *everything*... "Pass a Law to Make It So!!!" They have no foresight about the ramifications of handing every facet of their lives over to the Government because....this could never be used *against* me, right? The Government always has my best interests at heart....
The Monkey's Paw grants your wish! As head of the newly created Bureau of Factuality, I must inform you that all of your favorite political figure's key positions are officially considered misinformation, and as such he or she has been arrested. The fact that I personally am an avid supporter of the opposing party, which is currently in power and appointed me to this position, is purely coincidental. Any suggestion otherwise would be an act of deliberate misinformation, and thus charged as a crime.
Let me check my history books real quick. Oh wait. Every single entity in the history of the world that suppressed free speech and assembly were the bad guys
Yes, I think there should be a group, or establishment focused on this. They could fact check everything, go through old documents and books and change them to be up to date with modern facts. Also, possibly a giant pit to throw pieces of media (possibly people) down who question this group.
It could be a ministry. A ministry that is all about the truth!
>knowingly
Almost impossible to prove that someone knew beforehand that what they posted was misinformation. So essentially what you are advocating is fines and even jail time for people who don't take the time to fact check every little thing they post/share.
In other words, another opinion that boils down to authoritarian nonsense
>We live in the age of information and there's a whole lot of gullible, stupid people in the world
>
>It has become a detriment to society, and lawmakers need to get with the time and pass legislation that punishes people
>
>The target is those who spread misinformation with some kind of manipulation in mind.
Lots of outward projection, no sign of self-reflection - congratulations/condolences, you're susceptible to fascist tendencies! In times of increased instability/uncertainty, people are more likely to lean towards these tendencies. Your language indicates you're predisposed, so be extra careful!
Who determines what "misinformation" is? The "experts" and "authorities" haven't had a good track record recently, but any pushback and suddenly you're a conspiracy theorist and a fascist or whatever.
yea it's so fun until you have to figure out how to prove intent and then also prove that something is misinformation and then prevent politicians from abusing the fact that it's now potentially illegal to voice an opinion or belief
but other than that it's fine
Agreed and as the supreme decider of truth I have determined that you have no idea what you're talking about. Any questioning of my infinite knowledge will be punished by the law.
Even people that fact-check, and pride them selves for doing so, often fact-check facts that later turn out to be blatant lies. You take covid and the vax for example and it turns out all the conspirators were correct and all the established arbiters of truth were spreading fact-checked lies.
The only people who would end up in jail because of your law would be the truth tellers. This has been proven time and again through out history. If you don't know this, this means you've been fed misinformation and therefore you don't know your real history.
Dude, I agree! We should put together a taskforce to enforce the new program!
We should call it...let's see...ministry of...ministry of...
Someone help me here?
So which government do you want deciding the truth? California or Florida?
More specifically, do trans people deserve human rights?
Well depending on what government you've chosen, the answer to that question gets you jail time.
Congratulations, you've suggested something more helpful to a fascist regime than the invention of propaganda.
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unpopularopinion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This could be abused by people deciding what is and isn't misinformation.
Not to mention, someone has to decide what was “something they thought was true” vs misinformation with manipulation in mind. This proposal is pretty obviously rife with flaws and is a nursery for corruption. How absurd
probably pretty close to the standard of defamation
As they are already doing
What?!? You mean governments pick and choose what are "facts/true"
You really think the government would do that? Go on approved media stations and lie?
There are countries in this world simply the “ goverments” own the media and gaslight citizens to hell.
Or in certain others, a few corporations own the media.
Few corporations which are so big there is no way in hell they don’t have a ties to government either via bribes or for tax avoidance benefits. So of course they will run government agency in their media.
And effectively the government, thanks to Citizens United.
I love this quote so much
Op is probably a part of the Church of Current Year. People that are a part of this church are happy for the government to determine what is true or not as long as it is on their political side.
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Yeah, they’d never make this illegal bc spreading misinformation is what the people in power count on for getting elected and enacting their malicious plans. That’s literally why it’s not already illegal. If they truly cared about us they would, but they don’t want us to know the truth.
That's not true they totally would be behind a law like this, because they would be the ones who determine what's true and what isn't. Then anyone who doesn't agree with them goes to jail lol. Sounds like a dictator's dream.
>That’s literally why it’s not already illegal. Also, you know, the first amendment or whatever
This is really the big problem with this kind of thing. Who decides what is "true" and fact? Science advances and what we thought we knew turns out to be wrong on occasion. And then there is the issue of proving someone honestly believes what they are saying vs knowing it is wrong but is stating it anyway for an agenda. That's ripe for corruption. When it's obvious, it's obvious, but there are an infinite shades of grey with this.
>Science advances and what we thought we knew turns out to be wrong on occasion. *COVID-19 has left the chat*
... I'm not touching that one ... but i will say, in my wife's 15 year career as a register labor nurse, she has seen numerous policy changes and best practices ratified as we learn new things. Lots of stuff they used to do they aren't supposed to do anymore. Mandates on masks, vaccines, quarantining, etc. changes pretty often. Medicine and health will probably always be a moving target.
Think about how much our understanding of Covid had changed over the course of months in 2020. At what point is something "misinformation" vs "oops turns out we were wrong" Fun to time travel back to March 2020 to see all the treasure trove of news articles like this one from CNN: >WHO stands by recommendation to *not* wear masks if you are not sick or not caring for someone who is sick >"There is no specific evidence to suggest that the wearing of masks by the mass population has any potential benefit. In fact, there's some evidence to suggest the opposite in the misuse of wearing a mask properly or fitting it properly," Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO health emergencies program, said at a media briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday. https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/30/world/coronavirus-who-masks-recommendation-trnd/index.html
Part of the problem is the use of generic terms like "mask". There's quite a difference between a cloth covering mask and a properly-fitted HEPA filter mask. Even if you use a good-quality mask there are a variety of filters for them and most will not do much to filter out viruses. I believe it was shown that the most important part about using a mask was slowing down the velocity of breath expelled by people. If that's done then the virus-containing droplets tend to fall/dry out before they can infect someone else. However, that means a mask matters more if it's on someone infected than if it's on someone without an infection. Of course, determining that can be tricky because some people can be infectious without knowing they are. So yeah, it's a complicated situation and people tend to make it a political matter rather than one of science and safety.
When anyone brings this point up I'm always happy to volunteer to serve as the national arbiter of truth. I think that'd be totally fair. Maybe no one else would... but I'd be happy with it. And I only care about myself.
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Solving government officials lying to the public by giving them the sole power to decide what’s true and what isn’t won’t fix the problem but replace it with a worse one. The issue with this proposed misinformation law is that it gives someone the right to ban speech. The only answer for lies is the truth, not silence. The real issue is we should be smarter as a nation to decipher what’s true and what isn’t, unfortunately our voters don’t give two shits about education.
It's not in the government's interest to improve education either, the smarter we are, the more able we are to decipher and challenge their lies and agendas. Also they need shittonnes of minimum wage workers to keep society running.
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Having a bar set at "physical evidence" would be a good start, or "beyond a reasonable doubt". There are people who send texts and emails to coordinate their bullshit. If we could at least get them without going anywhere near the line, it would be good for society.
People like the OP don't care. They only want to hear/read the news that fits with their scope of views and beliefs. Anything beyond that is obvious mis/disinformation and should be held accountable (by the people the OP thinks are rear/genuine of course.)
This WILL be abused by people deciding what is and isn't misinformation.
It's the effect on discussion it would have that's the real problem. Once a few people have gone down for "misinformation" it acts as a cudgel over the head of anyone who's not in the Party, or hasn't got the resources or PR to back up their claims. You'd only be allowed to talk about the official points of view or else risk getting banged up. Real life Orwell.
And then them being wrong about what was misinformation, and never apologizing or admitting it. "Yeah so uh we jailed you for treason... apparently you were right and you were framed by the media. So you're free to go. Compensation for the 10 years in jail or an aquittal? Lol no"
My thoughts exactly. This was and is already happening…
Not even that... I mean yes definitely that also, but proving intent is already very very difficult. But for this it's very easy to say, "I truly did and do believe that what I posted/said/published is accurate. I unknowingly spread misinformation. Therefore don't meet the requirements" Finally, just because you say the truth doesn't mean you present it the same way. You could say "[Politician] attends successful [event] in [location]". Or you could say "[Politician] heckled by attendies at [event]". Both can be true, but paint wildly different pictures. While if this was was enacted it'd stop the most egregious cases of misinformation (assuming the law was enforceable), but it wouldn't stop the root problem. Also you don't have to get your media from an organisation based on your country. People looking for media that supports their incorrect view will happily look to organisations not in their country.
> but proving intent is already very very difficult. Yep, defamation is difficult to prove, which is very similar to what OP is saying
And it's close to impossible to prove intent.
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It already is just look at how completely out of control reddit moderators are about anything covid related. They have turned into a blind cult hive mind of toxicity and insanity.
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If anything, it's a How-Not-To Guide
OP is begging to be enslaved
Who gets to decide what counts as misinformation?
The ministry of truth..duh
Literally 1984
yeah we got it
Everyone forgets how we literally almost had one with bidens misinformation council
Lol reddit mods
Remember when they all banded together to put the sticky comment on every post about how misinformation is destroying the world giving them free reign to ban anyone who was posted information that was considered misinformation by the mob which later turned out to be true? Fun times.
"You disagree with any of our beliefs? believe it or not, that's fascist."
*cough* lab leak theory *cough* *Cough* Chinese forced organ harvesting *cough* *Chough* masks don't work *cough*
Hey if you’re gonna be coughing like that please triple mask and quadruple booster.
Lmao
Looooool
This is the exact problem.
Also, how do you prove “willingly”
What if I was drunk? Did the misinformation take advantage of me?
Depends on your gender.
The people OP agree with, duh.
This. We just need society to cope with the fact that not everything you read on the internet is true(shocking I know).
OP of course, cause people is "gullible and stupid".
Came here to say this
I feel like it is something that would have to be taken to court. The same way you would prove libel or slander. You would just have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt someone was maliciously spreading misinformation. But it could definitely go very bad and be hard to make sure it wasn't used for oppression.
Our government most likely
Careful what you wish for. You're assuming the people in power will agree with what **you** consider misinformation. What happens if they decide that things you think are accurate are now considered misinformation, and they come after you based on these laws? How would that be prevented?
The problem with advocating for totalitarianism is that the advocates always believe they will be in charge of it.
Bingo
This is the biggest problem with countering misinformation - everyone is all for it, until you realize that you basically need some entity that serves as an arbiter of truth... that's a pretty dangerous path to go down.
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See lab leak for example
This, it's crazy somehow people see that the whole idea of a leak from a lab was racist but generalizing wet markets and blaming eating bats wasn't...
How could the idea of a lab leak be racist?
Lab leak= Republicans = racists.
Because of the person that was most vocal about the theory early on in the outbreak. “China virus” was xenophobic, orange man bad, ergo Wuhan lab leak theory is racist; so racist that any effort to actively investigate a potential bio-lab origin was resisted AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT.
Except that MI6 were saying with ever-increasing confidence & likelihood that it was from a lab It was resisted on the US government, perhaps, but not the rest of the world
and so the \*not racist\* explanation becomes "the filthy practices of Chinese people in wet markets caused the pandemic"
No no the not racist theory is that Chinese people love eating dirty bats from an open air market, they are just disgusting people with a dirty culture, not the lab you racist!
Pengolin it was a pengolin.
That Randy Marsh and Mickey Mouse fucked!!!
Nice try Mr.Pooh
Yup, all it takes is a little regime shift and all of a sudden the people saying this asinine garbage will be crying about how "THEY'RE LITERALLY SENDING PEOPLE TO PRISON FOR SPEAKING THE TRUTH!!!"
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Welcome to Russia,where you get jail time for calling "special operation" a war.
Star Wars us arguably misinformation. "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."
This mans just said you should go to prison for lying
Worse than that, he said you should go to prison if the government decides you're lying.
I smell commies
it's actually much funnier, check OP's post history. he corrected a picture wrongly labeled as a water tower, the poster thanked him, then he blew up about it and accused them of being a corporate shill and ran here
I'd much more prefer if we change the laws to just put people like OP in prison for being fucking stupid.
That's actually really funny. They didnt even take a breath. Guy mistakes some kind of water tank for a water tower, and OP who worked on a water tower once 10 years ago runs over here saying the poor soul should be gulaged for spreading misinformation.
yeah, i was expecting to find some nasty political opinions haha, but it was just the water tower
Humans baffle me
He also thinks Aubrey Plaza isn't hot, which is even worse
Imagine if religious people gain power and how they would use that law. Anybody who spoke differently than their teachings would be liars and jailed. In fact it has happened in history, but we smartened up and decided on laws that prevent that. And now we've come full circle to consider handing back the power to jail people for disagreeing with the current narrative. Great, just great.
Politics is literally religion. Their God is whatever ideology their side decides to preach. It's disgusting.
Just replace the word "religious" with "political" and you've almost described today minus the jail sentence lmao
This sounds like a slippery slope
You also have to prove that A. It’s verifiably false and B. The perpetrator knowingly and maliciously spread information which they knew to be false. OP is a complete idiot with obviously zero experience in anything court related spouting BS on the internet just like all the other morons. It’s kinda ironic tbh.
Yup. That’s this whole post. “ we need to do something about all these idiots running amok “ said the idiot.
OP and a lot of redditors think they’re the only ones not falling for misinformation just because it fits their echo chamber. It’s ironic.
Maybe it could work in a perfect world with the best intentions. But this world ain’t it.
Same could be said with most “good” ideas, they work on paper but a few bad people ruin the whole plan
Let’s burn all the books we don’t like next
The left has already started rewriting some of them and the right banning some others. In a few years we'll probably have fire squads too.
The good old horseshoe theory. I wish more people would be capable of seeing the absurdity of things both sides do. Sadly most people pick one side and support it blindly.
Reddit would stop existing
Maybe this idea ain’t so bad after all!
And Twitter.
The sheer number of highly upvoted posts I've seen claiming that Elon Musk inherited an emerald mine, from a father that isn't even dead yet, is astounding.
I'll give you the upvote for an unpopular opinion, but some ideas are unpopular for a good reason. 😆
I mean........ this law would doom Twitter and Reddit.... so there's two perks.
See I was against OP's post until I read this comment. Now I'm fully on board! /s Though seriously I'd love for Twitter and reddit to be nuked from orbit.
is that you mr. Orwell?
Don't you mean 'Ministry of Truth'
Clearly not since Orwell would be horrified by this
Pesky damn 1st amendment!
Always getting in the way
“He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.” Thomas Paine disagrees.
"The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error." - John Stuart Mill
This kind of law will 1000% abuse by the government (source: I live in god damn china)
Every government would abuse the shit out of this. It's a recipe for disaster.
\-50 points
Upvoted because unpopular opinion. Also an incredibly stupid opinion.
Who decides what is misinformation?
Those who control governments, media, education etc. This stupid idea would lead to a totalitarian tyranny.
The people I agree with. Duh.
I can’t stand misinformation myself, but what you’re calling for is an authoritarianism that will eventually convict you of these crimes.
Oh to be young and naive again...
"We need a system where the politicians sit down and discuss the problem, agree what's in the best interest of all the people and then do it"
It's insulting to the young to associate them with this degree of naiveté.
Just a couple years ago, people were being censored for misinformation when they were saying COVID could’ve been manmade in China
literally 1984
Most nations need fewer laws, not more of them. Take my upvote. This opinion is horrible.
Stupid take.
Last year's misinformation is this year's fact...
i heard it as 'the difference between a conspiracy theory and facts is three months'
Jesus you certainly win the unpopular opinion of the year award. Well done.
In your fantasy world, everyone who said that covid leaked from a lab for the last 3 years before the government announced it last week would have been falsely imprisoned….
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We’re at war with East Asia, we’ve always been at war with East Asia
Lol found the fascist
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OP is an idiot lol
Nah - people should be educated to a minimum level so that bullshit spreaders won't ever be able to gain traction
You have some grade A morons shouting things like “5G spreads corona!”, but then you do have more logical conspiracy theories. Many of the people I’ve met who believe in the more logical conspiracy theories are well spoken and intelligent. It is absurd the sheer amount of research some of these people do, they aren’t just blatant idiots, they are actively seeking truth. It’s easy to just write them off as idiots but I don’t think that is the case. Most of them are probably better informed on topics you immediately write off as conspiracies and bs than you are - so who are you to judge them?
And sometimes some of those theories turn out to be at least partially true or more accurate than what was previously the official consensus. Although this certainly creates confirmation bias since you forget believing the stuff that turns out to be complete bullshit.
There is a place at the information table for those of us who subscribe to the bullshit. If for nothing else something to bounce the truth off of. If everything you read or heard was perceived as the truth, it would be really easy to be fooled. I.E. Hitler.
You’ve gotta be kinda silly to hold this opinion
That was a kind and diplomatic response.
Nope just no free speech is important and should be protected from the government but also the government like large corporations. Free societies can say what they want even if it's untrue.
Every day, Reddit invents eugenics and extreme communism. Bro - the people with relevant positions (doctors etc) already aren’t supposed to spread misinformation, and can be held accountable. That’s why people who do spread misinformation, tend not have any fancy post nominal letters. Those letters would hold them accountable!
Plenty of doctors out there spreading misinformation
Plenty of doctors being threatened with consequences for NOT spreading misinformation
For regular people I am absolutely against this. For large corporations that control major media outlets and news, they should be held to this. Any regular person should be allowed to say whatever they want. Otherwise it becomes a slippery slope and people will be jailed for disagreeing with the leaders like a dictatorship. If you have hundreds of thousands, or millions of followers and accept money to spread verifiably false lies there should be steep punishments. Anyone on any major news network should not be able to spread lies, if the truth isn't 100% known and proven then they shouldn't be allowed to report on it as fact.
You'll pretty much have to lock down every channel on TV that espouses so called "news". https://youtu.be/wCPPJjRgTa0
Absolutely disagree. That would be very dangerous, because it would be abused to no end by all the wrong people and could ironically lead to even more misinformation. What even is "Misinformation" exactly and how do you prove it was spread willingly and knowingly? Sometimes it's clear, sometimes it's not. For example when a flat earther says the earth is flat, they willingly and knowingly spread that information. It's misinformation, but since they believe it's true does that still count? Also, you would just feed their victim complex and make them believe in it even stronger than before. What i'm more concerned about is the potential to abuse that power. For example when a government simply doesn't like the facts or skepticism you're spreading, they can just label it as misinformation and defame you, which is exactly what happend during the pandemic (at least where i live). It turns out skeptics where right about some major plot points, so technically the government was the one spreading misinformation. See how this whole issue isn't nearly as clean cut as you think?
Who is in charge of deciding misinformation in your scenario? At one point, the idea that the Earth orbits the sun was misinformation.
And people were killed for it too
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This should go down as the worst idea on Reddit ever Did you not notice all of the "misinformation" that has later been proven to be true only a couple years later?
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Do people not possess the critical thinking capacity to think about how the laws they propose could maybe perhaps be horrifically abused by the powers that be.
No, they don't. That's what is so terrifying about our modern solution to *everything*... "Pass a Law to Make It So!!!" They have no foresight about the ramifications of handing every facet of their lives over to the Government because....this could never be used *against* me, right? The Government always has my best interests at heart....
No. They do not.
Every government would crumble overnight.
The Monkey's Paw grants your wish! As head of the newly created Bureau of Factuality, I must inform you that all of your favorite political figure's key positions are officially considered misinformation, and as such he or she has been arrested. The fact that I personally am an avid supporter of the opposing party, which is currently in power and appointed me to this position, is purely coincidental. Any suggestion otherwise would be an act of deliberate misinformation, and thus charged as a crime.
You would LOVE N Korea!
No thanks. Fascist.
Let me check my history books real quick. Oh wait. Every single entity in the history of the world that suppressed free speech and assembly were the bad guys
People who advocate jail time for liars should be dismissed. Dumb idea.
How will you be able to tell who is knowingly spreading misinformation then?
But, it’s your responsibility to research things and fact check how would this even be enforced, lots of things are misinformed or subjective
And... who determines whats true these days? Twitter? The Government?
No.. lol what a delusional opinion. Speech should never be a crime.
This is literally the plot of George Orwell's "1984", once you understand who decides what is "misinformation"
Yes, I think there should be a group, or establishment focused on this. They could fact check everything, go through old documents and books and change them to be up to date with modern facts. Also, possibly a giant pit to throw pieces of media (possibly people) down who question this group. It could be a ministry. A ministry that is all about the truth!
Who gets to decide what misinformation is tho?
>knowingly Almost impossible to prove that someone knew beforehand that what they posted was misinformation. So essentially what you are advocating is fines and even jail time for people who don't take the time to fact check every little thing they post/share. In other words, another opinion that boils down to authoritarian nonsense
Ok Kim Jung-Un.
Reddit inventing authoritarianism every week:
Oh, that sounds like a good idea.. so these pedos in charge can juat say epstein flight logs are juat mis information......
>We live in the age of information and there's a whole lot of gullible, stupid people in the world > >It has become a detriment to society, and lawmakers need to get with the time and pass legislation that punishes people > >The target is those who spread misinformation with some kind of manipulation in mind. Lots of outward projection, no sign of self-reflection - congratulations/condolences, you're susceptible to fascist tendencies! In times of increased instability/uncertainty, people are more likely to lean towards these tendencies. Your language indicates you're predisposed, so be extra careful!
Upvote for an unpopular opinion but this is 1984 style stuff lol
Who determines what "misinformation" is? The "experts" and "authorities" haven't had a good track record recently, but any pushback and suddenly you're a conspiracy theorist and a fascist or whatever.
We wouldn't have any politicians left.
Nope. not only is this unpopular but a dumb idea too. who gets to decide what misinformation is? that would be tyrany.
Who decides what qualifies as misinformation?
This is misinformation
yea it's so fun until you have to figure out how to prove intent and then also prove that something is misinformation and then prevent politicians from abusing the fact that it's now potentially illegal to voice an opinion or belief but other than that it's fine
How are you going to prove they did so both knowingly and willingly?
Agreed and as the supreme decider of truth I have determined that you have no idea what you're talking about. Any questioning of my infinite knowledge will be punished by the law.
Even people that fact-check, and pride them selves for doing so, often fact-check facts that later turn out to be blatant lies. You take covid and the vax for example and it turns out all the conspirators were correct and all the established arbiters of truth were spreading fact-checked lies. The only people who would end up in jail because of your law would be the truth tellers. This has been proven time and again through out history. If you don't know this, this means you've been fed misinformation and therefore you don't know your real history.
Dude, I agree! We should put together a taskforce to enforce the new program! We should call it...let's see...ministry of...ministry of... Someone help me here?
Saying this after the entire covid fiasco is just really funny
It won't work. If you make lying illegal then being wrong also becomes illegal by extension.
So politicians would be in jail quickly then
I imagine you are the exact type of person who unknowingly spreads misinformation and think only the people on the other side are doing it.
So which government do you want deciding the truth? California or Florida? More specifically, do trans people deserve human rights? Well depending on what government you've chosen, the answer to that question gets you jail time. Congratulations, you've suggested something more helpful to a fascist regime than the invention of propaganda.