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

Free speech lives. Good for you! @LeopoldBloom

@jackjjackson right.. I near fell over 😏

@LeopoldBloom Hmm.
I'm not at all sure about that.
For sure, when the identity of the poster is known, there are direct issues of legal liability for posting fake info that could put people's live at risk, or fake accusations that amount to slander.
But even on an anonymous site, I think it's important not to post false info or ideas that could cause harm if someone else is gullible.
There are a huge number of people here who are not well-educated, literally unable to sort fact from fiction, spot a smelly fish, or do the research and thinking. Many are young and inexperienced. Some live in a dysfunctional inner world.
These kinds of people are extremely vulnerable.

Written like a true coastal elite. @hartfire

@jackjjackson Sorry. Yes - I realise it sounds disgustingly arrogant.

Maybe it would help if I tried to provide an example of what I think the problem is.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/24/revealed-leader-group-peddling-bleach-cure-lobbied-trump-coronavirus

Mark Grenon, the leader of a religious group, wrote to Trump saying that chlorine dioxide (bleach) is “a wonderful detox that can kill 99% of the pathogens in the body”. He added that it “can rid the body of Covid-19”.

A few days later, Trump went on national TV at his daily coronavirus briefing at the White House on Thursday and promoted the idea that disinfectant could be used as a treatment for the virus. To the astonishment of medical experts, the US president said that disinfectant “knocks it out in a minute. One minute!”

He went on to say: “Is there a way we can do something, by an injection inside or almost a cleaning? Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that.”

~ This is an example of how false information can suddenly go national, and some people did take Trump's advice.

Now let's look at some of the repercussions...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/09/fake-coronavirus-cure-bleach/
"Grenon had made $500,000 in 2019 alone selling his solutions to thousands of vulnerable, sick people across the country, according to the Justice Department, even though the Food and Drug Administration had warned for years that people could die if they drank MMS products, which are essentially bleach.
The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Florida didn’t offer details about the reported deaths linked to the products, saying the FDA has “received reports of people requiring hospitalizations, developing life-threatening conditions, and dying after drinking MMS.”
Profits soared in March, when Genesis started falsely claiming that MMS could cure covid-19, too. They raked in roughly $123,000 that month, a nearly 400 percent increase in revenue, according to the feds.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/06/05/cdc-misusing-bleach-try-kill-coronavirus/
CDC: Some Americans are misusing cleaning products — including drinking them — in effort to kill coronavirus

www.classaction.com › news › stat-news-credibility-pro...
Mar 16, 2018 - STAT News is the latest independent publication to be haunted by pharmaceutical ghostwriting and authors with undisclosed industry ties.

At least, within the news media, there are fact checkers, and some news companies are known for scrupulous attention to the sources of their information and make few mistakes.

But on a site like this, there is very little fact checking, and people often argue over opinions and emotional responses as if facts make no difference to public safety or well being.

Is it elitist to care about people's welfare?

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

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

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