[Manuel_D]

> Now the USA make holocaust denial illegal. Would that make you reconsider if the holocaust really happened?

Not me, but I could easily see it making other people suspicious. It directly plays into the anti-Semitic tropes about Jewish control of communications. Pass such a law and the first thing they would do is point to its passage as proof of whatever conspiracy theory they're espousing.

The correct response to bad speech is not censorship, it's more speech: refute those arguing for bad policy, counterprotest those espousing hate. Imprisoning Hitler and his cronies didn't work in Germany, and far right groups like AfD still gain traction in the country.

[res0nat0r]

Eh as mentioned above, folks who already want to be convinced Bill Gates is implanting microchips in vaccines to track their movement (as they complain about this via their phone on facebook lol), aren't going to change their minds.

Deplatforming works and helps stop disinfomration. The racist Richard Spencer and the rightwing clown Milo Yiannopoulos both say they're broke and unemployed now thanks to everyone banning their racist content. These things are fine to do and work.

[mdp2021]

> Deplatforming ... helps stop disinfomration

And also confirms the scepticism of those who have grown diffident of dominant narratives.

Deplatforming can also stop information.

--

The issue is an old epistemological issue: it is the "demarcation problem". We have been there. It's not trivial.

[res0nat0r]

In this case though, vaccines save lives and aren't a different narrative, so it's fine to delete disinformation that is getting people killed.

[mdp2021]

No: the words of Halprin were not that "information will be censored that denies that «vaccines save lives»". And if such position existed, I want to hear about it: it may come from a fool, it may come from someone reliable, I cannot know in advance.

And "saving lives" must be put in context: it is a generic objective, not a justification for censorship.

[Manuel_D]

I'm very skeptical that deplatforming effectively curbs misinformation. If anything it magnifies it via the Streisand effect. It kicks off headlines, "This is the _______ that big tech doesn't want you to hear!" Focusing on individuals like Spencer and Yiannopoulos is missing the forest for a couple trees. Look at how widespread these people's ideas, as well as anti-vaccine sentiment, had become despite (and perhaps, because of) attempts to crack down on it.

[h0h0h0h0111]

A large percentage of the population believe an invisible being in the sky created the universe in 7 days, why is everyone so surprised that a percentage of the population believe Bill Gates is implanting microchips in vaccines?