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Suppression is a bigger scandal than the actual story

taibbi.substack.com

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Re: Suppression is a bigger scandal than the actual story

#151

Post by hackyhacky »

haltingproblem wrote: post #2

I fear Taibbi is right, the suppression by Twitter, irrespective of the merits and veracity of NY Post's report, will now normalize all kinds of behavior by platforms of all kinds big and small. Which will then incentivize governments to take on the platforms. This also raises issues of unequal treatment - say the NY Post report was factually wrong - why pick on the NY Post only? Why not the hundreds of other "news o…

They're not suppressing the article because it's wrong, but because it's pretty obviously intentionally planted misinformation disguised as news. Twitter has a choice: either they can suppress it; or they can be pawns of whatever bad actors are creating this disinformation.

It's a hard choice, and clearly it's a struggle that as a society we have to deal with. Right now, creating and distributing disinformation is easier than combating it, and I think it's unfair to call out Twitter for making a moral choice in the matter.

Re: Suppression is a bigger scandal than the actual story

#152

Post by mmsmatt »

This has got to be Taibbi click-baiting pro-Trump subscribers. He buries his admission that Trump's Biden/Burisma narrative is a lie so deep in the piece, you really have to trudge through a lot of hand-wringing drivel to find it. You can read 90% of this piece thinking that Taibbi is clearly sympathetic to the Republican narrative, and he gives no indication otherwise!

Re: Suppression is a bigger scandal than the actual story

#153

Post by googthrowaway42 »

hackyhacky wrote: post #147

[I posted this comment as a child of another comment below, but I think it's important enough to this discussion that I'm reposting it here.] To have a sensible conversation, we have to acknowledge what the alleged Biden emails are: at best, stolen information; and at worst, intentionally manipulated or fabricated information. In either case, the information is being released now for the explicit goal of altering the…

At "best" they're evidence of extreme corruption that compromises US national security. The allegations and evidence points to many insider dealings with CCP linked Chinese companies including what appear to be unreported loans from Chinese banks.

Re: Suppression is a bigger scandal than the actual story

#154

Post by reificator »

IfOnlyYouKnew wrote: post #129
haltingproblem wrote: post #2

I fear Taibbi is right, the suppression by Twitter, irrespective of the merits and veracity of NY Post's report, will now normalize all kinds of behavior by platforms of all kinds big and small. Which will then incentivize governments to take on the platforms. This also raises issues of unequal treatment - say the NY Post report was factually wrong - why pick on the NY Post only? Why not the hundreds of other "news o…

> will now normalize all kinds of behavior by platforms of all kinds big and small Slippery slope is a falacy , just like "correlation proves causation", to pick one HN somehow likes. Was there any doubt of their technical ability to delete and otherwise change content on their network in every which way? No, of course not. Was there any doubt that it would be legal? None whatsoever... Nothing has changed, except one…

> Slippery slope is a falacy, just like "correlation proves causation", to pick one HN somehow likes.

I've seen too many "if this happens then that will be next" come true to write every use off just because your 9th grade teacher said it was fallacious. For instance the U.S. legal system leans very heavily on the concept of "precedent". Slippery slopes are baked into the system.

I don't think you can just pull out the fallacy card every time it comes up and declare anyone who is predicting a chain of events to be arguing in bad faith.

Re: Suppression is a bigger scandal than the actual story

#155

Post by srtjstjsj »

beaner wrote: post #97
darkerside wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry, but you must not be familiar with the Post. It's a sensationalist tabloid. The reason they don't publish retractions is NOT because of the airtight integrity of their reporting.

Your comment contains no information about the veracity of the content in question. It's a straight-up ad hominem.

It's not anyone's job to inform you of easily available history. Pointing out that someone is a known liar goes to credibility, and is not as hominem. Calling them "Republican" or would be an ad hominem argument against credibility..

Re: Suppression is a bigger scandal than the actual story

#156

Post by srtjstjsj »

centimeter wrote: post #111
__float wrote: post #7

At what point do we look to capitalism as a driving factor for misinformation spreading? Media outlets are incentivized to bring in clicks/shares/likes. They're not incentivized to research stories sufficiently, so...a shaky lead from a sketchy source but a super compelling headline? Of course that gets published. Taking this as some anti-conservative war from the tech industry is super misleading.

The abundance of low-quality news today can be understood as a consequence of the cantillon effect in an inflationary environment. American-style crony capitalism might incentivize low-quality media, but without the presence of massive subsidies propping up News Corp, AT&T, and the other few firms owning the vast majority of American media, I would expect more legitimate and reputable news firms like Bloomberg or Reu…

The low quality media we are drowning in is memes and conspiracy theories from random individuals. Even in the mainstream, the worst news is Rupert Murdoch's, and he made his money selling low quality media, not made his low quality media from crony capitalism.

Re: Suppression is a bigger scandal than the actual story

#158

Post by hackyhacky »

rootsudo wrote: post #5

I agree, twitter suppression made the story bigger. The NYPost has issued much fewer retractions than NYT and CNN, yet, Twitter does not attack those institutions. Ironic, considering the founder of the NYPost and his opinions on market economies.

The NY Post is not a serious source of journalism. Like the other Murdoch properties, it's primarily a propaganda outlet. Even its own employees will tell you that [1].

Retractions are an indication of journalistic integrity. So of course they don't issue retractions, that would imply commitment to the truth. Who else doesn't issue retractions? Fox, The Sun, The Times (UK).

No one would argue that Twitter does journalism, but their content policy does prohibit spreading of deliberate, dangerous misinformation, which the Post reporting obviously is.

[1] https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/10/new-york-post-inside...

Re: Suppression is a bigger scandal than the actual story

#159

Post by srtjstjsj »

luckylion wrote: post #25
__float wrote: post #7

At what point do we look to capitalism as a driving factor for misinformation spreading? Media outlets are incentivized to bring in clicks/shares/likes. They're not incentivized to research stories sufficiently, so...a shaky lead from a sketchy source but a super compelling headline? Of course that gets published. Taking this as some anti-conservative war from the tech industry is super misleading.

> Media outlets are incentivized to bring in clicks/shares/likes. Yes, in a way, but also obviously not. If that was their only/primary driver, they'd go all click bait all the time. They wouldn't report things that aren't loved by the masses. They clearly do, so clicks/shares/likes can't be their primary things. I do believe that it's partially right, it's just not number one. Number one is agenda, and within the po…

The "agenda" of the paper is whatever position it thinks it's reader base has, if it's reader/ad funded. The political bias due to owner or donor conflict of interest is only one potential source of funding.

Re: Suppression is a bigger scandal than the actual story

#160

Post by srtjstjsj »

googthrowaway42 wrote: post #148
sagichmal wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because the news media you follow isn't covering the content of the story. That's not surprising, because it's manufactured and bogus.

Are you claiming that the content that has been published is manufactured and bogus (aka fabricated)? I don't think anyone has actually claimed that. What makes you say this?

The previous comment was an alternate perspective but this is becoming trolling. Bing "hunter biden laptop fake".
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