Should it be contained? The answer is no.
YouTube Unleashed a Conspiracy Theory Boom. Can It Be Contained?
41–50 of 87 posts
Re: YouTube Unleashed a Conspiracy Theory Boom. Can It Be Contained?
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, first off, YouTube is a private corporation, not subject to free-speech laws. Second, while I agree that YouTube shouldn't ban people for believing in conspiratorial nonsense, even if I do think it's harmful, it's not unreasonable that their algorithm should bias things that are fact-based, or at least not contributing to a toxic platform. It's hard to argue that any good came from Alex Jones posting the addres…
> first off, YouTube is a private corporation So is the new york times. > not subject to free-speech laws Yes it is, same as the new york times.
That's not how the 1st Amendment works:
>Congress shall make no law [...] abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; [...]
Re: YouTube Unleashed a Conspiracy Theory Boom. Can It Be Contained?
#43Conspiracy theories are fiction which is protected speech, it's interesting how newspapers are thumbing their noses at the first amendment and smearing competitors who also enjoy it's protection as perhaps they sense an opportunity at regaining gatekeeper status. It also can be said that "conspiracy theories" are part of internet culture as no one really believes the earth is flat, it's just attention seeking behavio…
The first amendment is about protecting speech from the government, and since the Ny Times isn’t a government entity, the right to free speech doesn’t pertain.
The nytimes' publishings are protected by the first amendment and so is youtube's.
Re: YouTube Unleashed a Conspiracy Theory Boom. Can It Be Contained?
#44Our society is premised on the idea of free exchange of ideas. Some will freely choose to think/do/believe things we find insane (some cults/religions/jobs). The premise of this article is that these videos are going to brainwash/hypnotize poor fools into believing crazy things. Newspapers need to win not be being the only voice in the room, but by being the most relevant, clear, researched, reliable, unbiased voice…
Correct. The NYTimes wants to control the narrative, decide what’s important, and in some cases, outright lie to the public, and get away with it because there are no counter narratives allowed. Hence this article, proposing government regulation of the media. They think people are too stupid to see what they are doing.
Re: YouTube Unleashed a Conspiracy Theory Boom. Can It Be Contained?
#45I have to wonder how much of the uptick in conspiracy theories and extreme perspectives are nation state actors attempting to sow discord. I don't think people need help being crazy, but social and new media are the equivalent of getting to drop millions of flyers into enemy territory for a small fee and little to no risk.
Re: YouTube Unleashed a Conspiracy Theory Boom. Can It Be Contained?
#46Just don't allow stupid and crazy people to buy guns and you won't have to care much about what do they believe.
Re: YouTube Unleashed a Conspiracy Theory Boom. Can It Be Contained?
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Posting on YouTube =/ free speech. That's a pretty fundamental misunderstanding you've got there.
Free speech isn't something that was created by the US Constitution, it's a right that everyone has by default. It doesn't matter if it's a private company or a government, restricting what people are allowed to say is still restricting free speech.
So you're saying that I'm entitled to sticking a bunch of signs on your lawn and utilizing my right to free speech to protest on your property?
If you don't agree, why are you pro-censorship?
Re: YouTube Unleashed a Conspiracy Theory Boom. Can It Be Contained?
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
I often get sucked in for entertainment value on those videos, even when I don't agree with anything they are saying.
I wonder if that is sometimes their intent. Sort of the "oh it's just a joke" situations you see, but the intent may be just normalization of it / a gateway to keep planting these ideas and doubts.
There was a quote on that effect (which I can't recall right now, sorry)—one from pre-WWII USA pro-nazi groups.
Not that anyone who uses the techniques are necessarily pro-nazi, but that it's a technique with an established history of [attempted] use, IIRC, in the popularization of presently unpopular ideas.
Re: YouTube Unleashed a Conspiracy Theory Boom. Can It Be Contained?
#49It is a conspiracy theory to suggest YouTube has a conspiracy theory problem.
If you don't like people's opinion, stop spending your time in places where the sole activity is people spreading their opinions.
Is the national narrative of Nigeria a conspiracy theory when it doesn't meet all of your "facts"? Are large swaths of Indian religions conspiracy theory because they don't align with Silicon Valley's agenda?
Humans are storytellers, not hard drives that blindly repeat experience. Get over yourselves.
Re: YouTube Unleashed a Conspiracy Theory Boom. Can It Be Contained?
#50Conspiracy theories are fiction which is protected speech, it's interesting how newspapers are thumbing their noses at the first amendment and smearing competitors who also enjoy it's protection as perhaps they sense an opportunity at regaining gatekeeper status. It also can be said that "conspiracy theories" are part of internet culture as no one really believes the earth is flat, it's just attention seeking behavio…
It is impossible to say what people do or don't believe, but I worked with a guy who would argue the earth was flat. His massive knowledge into the conspiracies and complete lack of knowledge about physics was a constant issue. Oh, we worked on a project computing link budgets for geo stationary communication satellites. So the company made all of their money off of satellites, and he could completely disconnect from…
Supposing that's true where's the harm there? why should we restrict "speech" because of your colleague's beliefs?