YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice • Hacker News Board

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#691

Post by aww_dang » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:13 AM UTC

sgustard wrote: post #660

manigandham wrote: post #573

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly qualifies someone to be a "professional" who is allowed to speak? The vast majority of content I watch on Youtube is produced by independent creators covering a variety of topics with much more detail, expertise, and truth than any mainstream program.

I believe that you, and I, have a robust filter to identify trustworthy content. But would you agree that most people consume only reliable content on YouTube, or Facebook? There is plenty of evidence that is not the case, and these platforms are being actively attacked by bad actors.

IMHO it is better to start from a point of humility and recognize that we all have our own particular blind spots. Technocratic management and epistemology would be prime examples in this case.

Who cares if people consume incorrect information? Who decides what is correct?

The WHO has been wrong throughout this pandemic. Accusations of misconduct and a pro-CCP bias are still playing out. The establishment sources have similarly been wrong. At the end of the day, man is still fallible and 'fact-check' is a deceptive misnomer.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#692

Post by ci5er » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:13 AM UTC

philliphaydon wrote: post #685

ci5er wrote: post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taiwan is an interesting case. They are not recognized as, really anything, except part of "One China" by the UN. Anyway - WHO wouldn't talk to them, even when they asked nicely. But they, like HK (and Vietnam, and SG and I don't know who else) are part of the "China is asshoe" club (i.e. the TW believe that the Chinese government will always lie and obfuscate, true or not), and had pretty direct experience with SARS…

Richard Dawkins recently said that HK is doing well because it followed the recommendations of the WHO. Which is literally not the case. They wore masks, and protested to get borders closed to non-citizens asap. If the citizens had not taken things into their own hands I fear they wouldn't be in such a good position as they are now. The WHO needs to be dismantled. china has far too much influential power in the WHO.…

I more-or-less don't disagree, except I do. I think the entire UN has lost its way: Look at the membership of the Human Rights Council. What a joke.

It barely worked in the first place, and is all sorts of corrupted now; I believe they should burn it to the ground.

But! Opinions vary! :-) And I am often wrong in matters outside my particular domains of experience.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#693

Post by yuema » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:14 AM UTC

Social network, should really be owned by USERS instead of founders/investors. It should be decentralized and it should be governed based on democratic Principles. I once thought that blockchain can do the job but it proved to be untrue.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#694

Post by ta999999171 » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:16 AM UTC

Phanyxx wrote: post #674

maximente wrote: post #599

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you mean like the NYT's Judith Miller, ostensibly a professional, who sabre rattled for the 2nd iraq war based on aluminum tubes which .gov leadership immediately cited after being published? because that was fairly crackpotty.

I'm not saying your example is wrong, but the fact that it's from nearly 20 years ago is very telling. Even the most credible of sources will get something very wrong on occasion.

You think Op. Mockingbird is through with?

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#695

Post by Khaine » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:16 AM UTC

eloff wrote: post #524

logifail wrote: post #121

Current WHO advice: "If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with COVID-19." [0] Where we live, due to local laws , we are now obliged to wear a mask to go shopping. Can one discuss that on YouTube, or would one be contradicting the WHO? I fear there isn't "one truth" out there, despite the content providers' and fact-checkers' attempts :( We keep trying to encourage our ki…

I think what YouTube is doing is with the best intentions - but I hate it. Silencing speech you don't agree with is a dangerous road littered with totalitarian regimes. Doing so at YouTube's scale underlines how much unchecked power corporations have in our society. I think they should not have the power to decide what voice deserves a platform and what does not. They should be regulated as a utility given their mark…

The road to hell is paved with good intentions

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#696

Post by dvtrn » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:19 AM UTC

yuema wrote: post #693

Social network, should really be owned by USERS instead of founders/investors. It should be decentralized and it should be governed based on democratic Principles. I once thought that blockchain can do the job but it proved to be untrue.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Check out the IndieWeb when you have cycles for it. I think it lines up quite well with what you’ve expressed.

https://indieweb.org/principles

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#697

Post by chrstphrhrt » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:21 AM UTC

cle wrote: post #603

manigandham wrote: post #573

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly qualifies someone to be a "professional" who is allowed to speak? The vast majority of content I watch on Youtube is produced by independent creators covering a variety of topics with much more detail, expertise, and truth than any mainstream program.

There isn’t “qualified” and “unqualified”. It’s not that black-and-white, and I wish people would accept that more. Basically what we should be asking ourselves is “What’s the likelihood that what this person is telling me is correct?” which is much more useful, because it immediately puts the focus on what factors contribute to that. We aren’t going to conclude anything useful until we can agree that there are good…

Makes total sense. The black and white thing always seemed so weird. It's a false dichotomy.

Even if censorship is good in the particular context (which seems to be the case here), but bad in general and bad in principle, it seems that the real issue is that there should be one unaccountable entity who gets to make that decision. Why is Youtube big enough to have such an impact without being accountable in any way to the public?

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#698

Post by AzzieElbab » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:21 AM UTC

But the WHO is very careful not to offer any advice other than wash your hands. Who is going to contradict that?

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#699

Post by twomoretime » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:28 AM UTC

ceejayoz wrote: post #643

e2021 wrote: post #463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also comes from the Absurdly laudatory praise that WHO was giving China in January about how they were setting standards for transparency and how their quick behavior had saved the world.

They were hardly unique in that. https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/12208181153549230... > China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi! Jan 24!

So when it's convenient, we look to Trump as an example?

It's terrifying to watch so many people argue back and forth so adamantly defending their sides, meanwhile almost no one even brings up the possibility that they both screwed up.

One dimensional politics will be the end of the American Empire.

Re: YouTube bans coronavirus-related content that directly contradicts WHO advice

#700

Post by toohotatopic » Fri, Apr 24, 2020, 5:29 AM UTC

glenstein wrote: post #381

logifail wrote: post #121

Current WHO advice: "If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with COVID-19." [0] Where we live, due to local laws , we are now obliged to wear a mask to go shopping. Can one discuss that on YouTube, or would one be contradicting the WHO? I fear there isn't "one truth" out there, despite the content providers' and fact-checkers' attempts :( We keep trying to encourage our ki…

>Where we live, due to local laws, we are now obliged to wear a mask to go shopping. Can one discuss that on YouTube, or would one be contradicting the WHO? Examples like these are frivolous. There's a heartland of obvious, flagrant misinformation that is indisputably worth banning and for which a moral case exists to ban immediately: '5g caused corona, this home remedy will cure it!' etc. The go-to move of internet…

>There's a heartland of obvious, flagrant misinformation

If it is obvious, why does it need banning?

The bigger problem is that many people haven't learned how to process information properly. It's frivolous to just demand banning. Banning should only be a first step among many to spread media competence. How can google ban corona misinformation but just recently has made ads and links almost indistinguishable on its result page?