[mhandley]

But if repeatedly looking in the mirror actually causes you to become more vain, or develop body dysmorphic disorder, then the mirror itself might not be entirely healthy. Cause and effect in societal matters are complex; there are usually no simple fixes, but that doesn't mean we should never try. Whether this particular attempt will be successful, I doubt though.

[jstanley]

If the mirror is harmful, you can stop using it. You don't need to cripple mirrors for everyone else.

[rootlocus]

If people knew when to stop, we wouldn't have addiction problems. If people knew what was bad for them and could stop, well, that would be a very different world.

[doctorstupid]

Who is to say that society has a body dysmorphic disorder? Are governments such trusted doctors? Should a government control a society's self-image with an airbrush? If one doesn't believe that individuals are responsible enough to govern their own communications, then perhaps so. But I believe that the best society-doctor is society itself, and given past and current efforts, am skeptical of the sincerity of governments when they do pull our their airbrushes. Mass-murder-selfies are obviously evil, but what about mentioning factory air pollution? I know of one government which will readily airbrush over such online blemishes, and if these two seem ridiculously far apart, remember that wedges start thin. The latter example raises what I believe to be the main point of government airbrushing - to better its own mirror-image, rather than for the health of society.

Speaking of censorship, why has my comment been grayed out?