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Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

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Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#181
post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The just consequence should be that they should be considered publishers, rather than the republishers. And thus lose their 230 protection from civil litigation.

Isn’t the entire point of 230 to allow platforms to be moderated without being treated as publishers?

[deleted]

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The NY Post editor is Sohrab A h mari, and his account https://twitter.com/SohrabAhmari remains unsuspended.

Sohrab is a conspiracy theorist nutball who fled a religious dictatorship in Iran and now openly advocates for a Christian monarchy for the US.

LOL I read Sohrab pretty regularly but have not seen him advocate for a Christian Monarchy in the US (though would love to read that piece). He had a pretty big dust-up with David French over, among other things, whether conservatives should continue being nice to the left as a sort of game theoretical experiment. Other than that, he's kind of boring.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#183

Let's be honest, the only people screaming for censorship are firmly on the left. Controlling "disinformation" is a dog whistle for censorship, hoping that average citizens don't realize what they're really after. We all know who is going to be the moderators in flagging "disinformation" and we all know which ideology they overwhelmingly favor. I'd sooner trust a pyromaniac as fire chief of my local county than I wou…

Well yea, the left wants misinformation to be labeled/censored because they're no willing to lie like the right does. Once the left catches on to the need o create their own fake news you'll see this from both sides.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#184

If I was a Twitter or Facebook investor, I have one question: What did you expect was going to happen? Honestly. Did nobody have the foresight at Facebook or Twitter to think that this wouldn't blow up? Did nobody think, just once, that this might invite regulatory action or be in news headlines? And if honestly nobody thought this might happen, I'd want the entire management and "safety" team replaced for having no…

They probably have been doing this for a while, and this was just the first time they got called out for it. Regulatory action has been in the works for some time. Whether or not it goes through depends only on politics. The mainstream media already doesn't like them for eating their lunch. Twitter has nothing to lose by doing this. It will damage Facebook's brand identity as being a "free speech" platform, but that'…

Ya, they have. Every major social network censors constantly and they get called out all the time but because the censoring favors a liberal agenda the mainstream media doesn't want to talk about it because they're also hugely biased (as are tech companies). Read Left Turn by Tim Groseclose or watch one of many people who talk about. I always like Larry Elder's perspective [1][2].

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJAQ2QB6WVQ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-CugJieq2I

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that Cohen when you say Trump’s lawyer? Do you have a source for that out of interest? It smells a bit like that National Review article Cohen planted about Cruz’s dad killing JFK or something in 2016.

I'm referring to Giuliani, who is the New York Post's source for these alleged emails and photos, acting as a supposed intermediary for a repair shop employee. Giuliani has been tasked for two years with digging up dirt on Biden, and every single story he has pushed has in my view, been outright fabricated agenda pushing based on narratives spun by dubious third parties.

I was just looking it up to correct myself, looks like Cohen is back in prison so.. probably not him :) yea Giuliani, makes sense, I’d be amazed if it’s not just an outright fabrication.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#186

Just step back a little and consider the alternatives here. NYP is pretty obviously smearing for a major civil event here, a civil event that has the potential of causing serious harm to the second largest democracy in the world. If the social media companies would just allow this smearing to go unhindered, they are basically saying: “We don’t care if bad actors use our platform to undermine our democracy,” which is…

We live in a country where we have elected officials and laws to deal with individuals and organizations that undermine our democracy. I don't need some random collective of people headquarted in a random state to decide those things for me.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#187
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's a newspaper collaborating with the president's personal lawyer The President is still allowed to tweet almost anything he wants, so this is still very selective censorship.

Evidently Twitter feels that gives him special privileges, but they've been flagging his posts as possible misinformation for months. Clearly they're trying to find a way to navigate a difficult situation. I think they should be erring toward better control of disinformation, certainly not being more laissez-faire about a problem that is destroying the world.

> I think they should be erring toward better control of disinformation,

Maybe Twitter should just shut down for a month. That's my point, there's so much untruth on Twitter, even specifically related to politics and the election, that it's just impossible to intelligently "curate" the platform. There's no apparent principle in what they allow and what they don't.

> certainly not being more laissez-faire about a problem that is destroying the world.

It wasn't a story about climate change, or nuclear proliferation.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It likely is BS, but not definitely. Even some of the points in the TPM article aren't very strong (I'm sorry, but journalists mocking the story isn't a point.) But, even if it is, it's not the role of Facebook to decide it is or isn't, when it is not verify-ably false. Instead they should just elevate critics of the article/scoop like the article you linked.

Extraordinary times calls for extraordinary actions. The coming US election is no small deal, and we have seen in past elections how bad actors have been using social media to undermine democracy (including but not limited to influencing elections). You really can’t blame Twitter and Facebook here for taking the more radical step against an obvious smear campaign that blatantly fails the smell test. I’m sure if this…

We absolutely can blame them. Twitter and Facebook have repeatedly taken the position that there's no need to reform section 230 or otherwise strongly regulate their moderation, because they're very dedicated to the idea of free discourse and would never abuse their power. If they now feel that free discourse is dangerous and shouldn't be allowed, they should let the country know that so that we can make regulatory decisions accordingly.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#189

If I was a Twitter or Facebook investor, I have one question: What did you expect was going to happen? Honestly. Did nobody have the foresight at Facebook or Twitter to think that this wouldn't blow up? Did nobody think, just once, that this might invite regulatory action or be in news headlines? And if honestly nobody thought this might happen, I'd want the entire management and "safety" team replaced for having no…

This post has a very odd tone, as if a private company enforcing their policy to remove unverified & leaked personal correspondence of a private citizen is some unquestionable moral wrongdoing that's apparently going to blow up. Surprised to see this as at the top, on HN.

National Review is a conservative wing-nut website trying to turn this non-story into fuel for their censorship culture war.

Re: Facebook, Twitter block the NY Post from posting

#190

If I was a Twitter or Facebook investor, I have one question: What did you expect was going to happen? Honestly. Did nobody have the foresight at Facebook or Twitter to think that this wouldn't blow up? Did nobody think, just once, that this might invite regulatory action or be in news headlines? And if honestly nobody thought this might happen, I'd want the entire management and "safety" team replaced for having no…

Pitchforks are out, once current election circus is over, they will come for FB, Twitter and YouTube. Politicians on either side are scared and don’t want such strong entities have control over information.
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