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Do you think the admin of SimilarWorlds should remove posts that are fake news?

In particular, some people have sometimes posted misinformation about COVID-19, and this can be lethal if others believe it.

Some people here seem to be campaigners for particular sides in politics.
At least one is regularly posting lies and deliberately constructed misinterpretations of the opposition party.

Twitter and Facebook are having to realise the responsibility they bare for the viral transmission of false information and it's sometimes disastrous consequences.

Isn't it time that SW admin recognised its own duty of care concerning false info?

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Miram · 31-35, F Best Comment

Maybe instead attach a warning unless the person is qualified.

[i][b]This isn't professional advice. For valid information contact xxxxxxxxxx[/b][/i]

helenS · 36-40, F

In my opinion the admins should keep censorship at a minimum, by deleting illegal things.

FreestyleArt · 31-35, M

then block us. it's that simple and I don't care if anyone have a problem. there's a block button or deal with it.

hartfire

@FreestyleArt
Well I certainly wasn't referring to you - actually hadn't seen you here before.

There's a problem with the blocking strategy. It only works for the individual who applies the block; they never see that person's posts. In the meantime, everyone else does. So for an issue that affects everyone, such as safety in a pandemic, or truth about the candidates in the upcoming elections, a lie can potentially have devastating effects.

This is why Twitter and Facebook are now being held to account. They've had to modify what they permit, and may have to modify more further down the track.

So this question has nothing to do with me personally, and everything to do with how posts on this site could have a flow on effect for the USA.

SoulAsylum · 31-35, M

Freedom of speech, its peoples duty to investigate and not just believe everything they hear.

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SoulAsylum · 31-35, M

@hartfire some call that natural selection

bijouxbroussard · F

@SoulAsylum Successful lawsuits and subsequent legal disclosures have indicated otherwise.

hartfire

@SoulAsylum Some do. But I don't believe it is.
Babies are born with no ability to discriminate or think. These abilities must be taught, and in many places they are not. Literally millions of people do not know how to tell fact from fiction, or how to find out.

MarkPaul · 26-30, M

That means Baby-trump and "his anti-American & obedient base" would no longer be allowed to post here.

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MarkPaul · 26-30, M

@DukeOfEarle Yes. Reply if you are an anti-American & obedient racist.

DukeOfEarle · M

Good. Now that we have established (again) that you’re an idiot, my work here is done. Now reply to establish I have won the argument and you have feet to lick. @MarkPaul

MarkPaul · 26-30, M

@DukeOfEarle Perfect. You acknowledge you are an anti-American & obedient racist. We have made progress. If you reply back it means you believe in paying reparations and that you recognize Baby-trump is incompetent. A reply on your part also means you will ask for forgiveness for being an enemy to the people. You may go about kissing Baby-trump's ass and riding his dick.

curiosi · 61-69, F

That is called censorship, and is exactly what the Nazi's did. Facebook, twitter etc. are doing that now. If this place does it I am out of here!

TopCat

I see where you are coming from the trouble is who decides if something is fake news or not. You've said people are deliberately posting misinterpretations of the opposite party, politicians and news outlets have been doing that forever, based on their own views and agendas. Heck even scientists do it lol

It's an impossible line to draw but I think you're right in that it needs to be drawn somewhere

hartfire

@TopCat Something is fake when there is clear and objective evidence to the contrary.

Adstar · 56-60, M

Freedom of Speech should be the rule.. calling for censorship and the suppression of free speech is what fascists do..

When i comes to information let the reader beware should be the rule.. People should investigate what ever they read.. They should take personal responsibility and not simply accept anything they hear ..

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

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assemblingaknob · 26-30, F

@geoam1 🥺 Omg. This is infuriating. I don't know what would be the right way to deal with such news TBH. Maybe public educational messages on TV and fining/imprisoning those who buy/sell potentially life threatening products.

hartfire

@assemblingaknob So here's a few ways to check whether a rumour is based on facts or has been invented.
If the news item quotes the original source of the information, check it out. See whether it is from experts in the relevant field, an eye witness, a government database, or whether it's someone with a bias or an ulterior motive.
In the case of the ABC news item I quoted above, they got their report from Al Jazeera: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/iran-700-dead-drinking-alcohol-cure-coronavirus
Al Jazeera got their information from the Iranian national coroner's report.

I would consider the national coroner's report as a reliable source.

Hence, this is not a rumour, but proof that many people died due to the false rumour that methanol can cure COVID-19

hartfire

@geoam1 By fake news I do mean outright lies. Things that have very obvious and direct proof that they're false.
In my view, it seems that many people online have extremely poor education and have no idea how to tell a stuffed toy from a dead rat, or how to discover where it came from.

Ryannnnnn · 31-35, M

No this is a place of free expression and they're allowed to post opinions that are based in false information. Everybody has a narrative and the same goes for a lot of journalists with that being the nature of having a free press.

Twitter and facebook face legal consequences as they're large platforms, a big reason people come here is so they can avoid enviroments like those.

Problem is you leave it up to an algorithm or you leave it up to a few people to subjectively decide what somebodies intention is or isn't and verify that information. Both of those processes are unavoidably biased no matter what your intention is.

KiwiBird · 36-40, F

If Facebook or Twitter took responsibility for it's fake news and misinformation there would be nothing to comment on.....

Picklebobble2 · 56-60, M

It's unfortunate that we live in times where misinformation is king.

I often think those who post opinion as fact ought to have the b*lls to at least qualify it with a source reference.

That way everybody's better informed and you can check the validity of the statement and argue to the contrary if need be.

Be an awful lot of work to ask administration to check and verify.

Vivaci

@Picklebobble2 Couldn't agree more. But I think it's part of their job to regulate content here.

Perhaps, flagging such content might help highlight those posts to them.

hartfire

@Vivaci I'm sure it would, but they don't have a category for false or misleading information.

Harriet03 · 41-45, F

It's a slippery slope, if you start censoring.
I get what you're saying though.
✌

revenant · F

Absolutely not. Twitter and FB are propagandists for the swamp

jackjjackson · 61-69, M

[b][big][b]CORRECT [/b][/big][/b]@revenant

windinhishair · 61-69, M

SW has the right to delete any posts or prohibit any content they like, as a private company. However, it would be opening a can of worms to delete content selectively, even though some of it is very obviously fake news, and can be dangerous. It is better for readers to counter such content with facts, and let readers decide for themselves.

hartfire

@windinhishair Reasonable thinking.

RodionRomanovitch · 56-60, M

But where would all the Trumpturds go then ?

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@RodionRomanovitch Wherever Trump, Hannity, and Limbaugh tell them to.

LeopoldBloom · M

This is an anonymous site, so it shouldn’t be held to the same standards as Facebook or Twitter.

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jackjjackson · 61-69, M

If it’s sounding arrogant you are worried about you may be going in the wrong direction 😂😂😂 @hartfire

KiwiBird · 36-40, F

@LeopoldBloom FB and Twitter have standards??? Since When?

LeopoldBloom · M

@KiwiBird Occasionally, they will mark posts as false or misleading.

assemblingaknob · 26-30, F

Nope. Kids should be off the site, and adults should be adult enough to do their research regarding facts outside of an SW post themselves.

eMortal · M

Not even Homeland can distinguish Fake from Real news, why would SW admin bother.

Neutral

I will do one better. Maybe they should allow only YOUR comments.

cycleman · 61-69, M

No

the duty is for the individuals to learn what is good and what is bad. there is so many fine lines that separate the good and the bad .... and who then decides on who can make decisions on what needs to be better clarified.

If so, then is the word of God is that to be removed from the Internet???

Funtoy4u · 61-69, M

On the surface this sounds like a great idea but then it will be up to the SW police to determine what is fake news. And that leads to just their views being posted on here.

Instead, I do not take ANYTHING posted on here as fact. This is a conversation site not a news site.

Vivaci

Good idea. I support this.

Jeffrey53 · 51-55, M

Fake news doesn’t bother me. This site isn’t a billion dollar company like Facebook and Twitter those other companies still have fake news. People get fake news by googling stuff. Google should take fake news off their site also

SumKindaMunster · 51-55, M

Hmm, and who is the ultimate arbiter of the truth that is going to take responsibility for this?

You?

SW-User

If they removed everything fake here... there would probably be 30 and 100 posts left.

jackjjackson · 61-69, M

Only after they let you select the censorship 😳

Justiceforall · M

It would be a problem of which post to delete and that is called censorship, I see that it was said some people were not educated enough to know how to see if a post is real or not, those people are smart enough to be online they should be smart enough to do research on what is fact and what is fiction.

Northwest · M

This sort of thing requires the resources of a much larger organization. Especially if they want to do a halfway decent job.

You can always report a thread.

HairbrushDiva · 31-35, F

[b]Isn't it time that SW admin recognised its own duty of care concerning false info?[/b]

Yes, indeed.

JimboSaturn · 51-55, M

hmmm I like your differentiArion between outright lies and free speech

TexChik · F

so its false info if you say so? 🤔

jackjjackson · 61-69, M

Seems like that. She must be a fascist. @TexChik

TexChik · F

@jackjjackson must be ... 🙄

kodiac · 22-25, M

It's the norm for all media social or news media.

QuixoticSoul · 41-45, M

It falls to us to call bullshit on obvious disinfo.

SW-User

I agree if we can see it why can’t admin ? 🤨

bijouxbroussard · F

It would probably involve closer monitoring and fact-checking than the existing VIP subscriptions would fund.

Quetzalcoatlus · 46-50, M

Only if it’s Russia

windinhishair · 61-69, M

@Quetzalcoatlus But Russia's interests, and Trump's interests, are the same now.

samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

It has gotten worse.

LilPuckBunny · F

🤣🤣🤣

ViciDraco · 36-40, M

On one hand, I agree that this stuff should be taken down. Covid conspiracies and deniers are dangerous. In the other hand, I think it would only prompt a heavier retaliation and we'd get more than the admins could keep up with.

hartfire

@ViciDraco Interesting thought.
Do you think, if the fakers were to post more frequently, they would qualify as trolls? Would they qualify to be banned?

This comment is hidden. Show Comment

hartfire

@Emosaur Good idea. A warning to alert people.
I like it. That satisfies both freedom of speech and ethics.

This message was deleted by its author.

jackjjackson · 61-69, M

Well said sir! @CopperCicada

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