[DecoySalamander]

It's not any less manipulated - there are just more parties doing psychological operations and not just established players. In the case of TikTok, China gets to pick and choose which operations are free to run, and likely picks the ones that are more destabilizing to the US.

[whatshisface]

Public opinion isn't destabilising in the US, instead it forms the basis of our system of government.

[shadowgovt]

There are multiple historical examples of public opinion being shaped by propaganda.

If one newspaper can convince the United States to support the Spanish-American War because one of her own warships blew up due to poor maintenance, It's not a stretch to believe a sufficiently well-funded state operation with relatively unfettered control over an entire media application could run a similar opinion shaping operation.

Public opinion is the cornerstone of the US system, but the public can be misinformed at scale.

[simoncion]

> There are multiple historical examples of public opinion being shaped by propaganda.

Correct. But (until relatively recently) the proposed solution to deception and propaganda was dismantling them with facts and reason. "Free and open discussion in the public square is critical to a well-functioning society." is one of the foundational principles of our country.

This notion that adults should be protected by deception and propaganda by censorship, rather than frank and open conversation is a distressing resurgence of authoritarianism.

As always, when looking at the machines of control that politicians are assembling, ask what can be done with it by someone who is dedicated not to the protection of their citizens, but rather the suppression or destruction of a section of the citizenry they disfavor. If someone who hates can legally do more harm with the machinery than someone who cares can do good, either ensure that it is built differently, or that it is not built at all.

[shadowgovt]

Unfortunately, by that reasoning we probably shouldn't have let the Internet get so big and omnidirectional.

[simoncion]

That's like comparing a Golgi apparatus to Hubble.

If you've never looked into it, you'd do well to learn a bit about what it takes to become an AS and get an ASN. There was a post on the red site a while back about someone doing it on the cheap as a dare for their stupid hobby project.

[shadowgovt]

I'm afraid I don't understand the analogy. A Golgi apparatus and Hubble?