Technology and Dissenting Opinions

crustBrother

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Apr 23, 2001
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So before I ask this question, I want to make one thing clear.

I believe President Biden won the election fair and square.

That being said, I'm wondering if anyone else has concerns about the level of control big technology companies have over people's ability to discuss dissenting opinions on that (or any other) topic.

If we as a culture reached the consensus that we didn't want big tech in control of what we say to each other, we could adopt technology accordingly (https://capsule.social/) but I honestly don't get the feeling that mainstream society has much of a problem with big tech having the level of control that they currently have.

What do you think?
 
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hal9000

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Jan 30, 2016
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Urbana, Illinois
Im not sure how many levels of loaded-Ness there are to this question, but I’ll take the bait.

Yes, the tech companies have way too much control and the American public has become way too lazy and too fast to take the easy route with respect to information acquisition.
 

crustBrother

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Apr 23, 2001
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Im not sure how many levels of loaded-Ness there are to this question, but I’ll take the bait.

Yes, the tech companies have way too much control and the American public has become way too lazy and too fast to take the easy route with respect to information acquisition.
Not loaded. Honest question. Technology is my bread and butter. Trying to get a pulse check on whether people are generally uncomfortable with the control big tech has on communications before I start sharing my concerns in a professional setting.
 
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grapedrink

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May 21, 2011
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Not loaded. Honest question. Technology is my bread and butter. Trying to get a pulse check on whether people are generally uncomfortable with the control big tech has on communications before I start sharing my concerns in a professional setting.
Most people are only uncomfortable with it when it goes against their politics.
 

hammies

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Apr 8, 2006
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Most people don't care too much when private enterprise does something, but they care a lot when government does the exact same thing.
 
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hal9000

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Jan 30, 2016
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Most people are only uncomfortable with it when it goes against their politics.
true, but I think it’s an environment that’s rife with misinformation as well as disinformation, and people on the entire continuum of the political spectrum gladly partake in it. You don’t know (or maybe you do know from your own experience) how many of my liberal and left-leaning friends i’ve had to call bullsh*t on for spreading lies and falsehoods on social media.

i’ve given up almost entirely on my right wing friends and family.

I have an uncle who’s a literal genius, used to work for Strategic Air Command, and was a lieutenant colonel in the air force.......he’s fully gone done the Qanon rabbit hole, and so has his brother, my other uncle, who’s almost as smart
 

grapedrink

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May 21, 2011
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true, but I think it’s an environment that’s rife with misinformation as well as disinformation, and people on the entire continuum of the political spectrum gladly partake in it. You don’t know (or maybe you do know from your own experience) how many of my liberal and left-leaning friends i’ve had to call bullsh*t on for spreading lies and falsehoods on social media.

i’ve given up almost entirely on my right wing friends and family.

I have an uncle who’s a literal genius, used to work for Strategic Air Command, and was a lieutenant colonel in the air force.......he’s fully gone done the Qanon rabbit hole, and so has his brother, my other uncle, who’s almost as smart
Agreed. Most people will also ignore the blatantly wrong information as long as it’s in the favor.
 
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afoaf

Duke status
Jun 25, 2008
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So before I ask this question, I want to make one thing clear.

I believe President Biden won the election fair and square.

That being said, I'm wondering if anyone else has concerns about the level of control big technology companies have over people's ability to discuss dissenting opinions on that (or any other) topic.

If we as a culture reached the consensus that we didn't want big tech in control of what we say to each other, we could adopt technology accordingly (https://capsule.social/) but I honestly don't get the feeling that mainstream society has much of a problem with big tech having the level of control that they currently have.

What do you think?
lol @ "dissenting opinion"

you can still drop N-bombs and threaten to kill Pelosi elsewhere

leave Facebook to me and my auntie's cat pics
 

StuAzole

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Jan 22, 2016
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Not loaded. Honest question. Technology is my bread and butter. Trying to get a pulse check on whether people are generally uncomfortable with the control big tech has on communications before I start sharing my concerns in a professional setting.
I'm concerned with the ability of people to manipulate technology - like deepfake videos - in order to sway "reality." I'm not concerned that twitter can ban me if I post deepfake videos. None of us need twitter or Facebook and when we go on, we do so per terms handed down by the owners.
 

afoaf

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Jun 25, 2008
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I also lol @ the specific dissenting opinions that have been silenced. And yet I find myself opposed to the act of silencing in general.
there is a difference between dissenting opinion and threatening someone's life

there is a difference between dissenting opinion and disseminating proven falsehoods

you're conflating things

this seems to be a common mistake people make when opining on the social medias
 
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crustBrother

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Apr 23, 2001
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there is a difference between dissenting opinion and threatening someone's life

there is a difference between dissenting opinion and disseminating proven falsehoods

you're conflating things

this seems to be a common mistake people make when opining on the social medias
From https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/supporting-the-2020-us-election/

"we will start removing any piece of content uploaded today (or anytime after) that misleads people by alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election"

This has nothing to do threatening someone's life. And one man's proven falsehood is another's dissenting opinion. Take Bohter and his flat earth for example. You and I agree its a proven falsehood. He sees it as a dissenting opinion. I'm not comfortable with big tech deciding which is which.
 

StuAzole

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Jan 22, 2016
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From https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/supporting-the-2020-us-election/

"we will start removing any piece of content uploaded today (or anytime after) that misleads people by alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election"

This has nothing to do threatening someone's life. And one man's proven falsehood is another's dissenting opinion. Take Bohter and his flat earth for example. You and I agree its a proven falsehood. He sees it as a dissenting opinion. I'm not comfortable with big tech deciding which is which.
It's insincere to suggest that an opinion can't also be a proven falsehood. The earth is not flat. It's proven. Yet many people are of the dissenting opinion that the earth is flat. It's false, despite it being their dissenting opinion. It's not harmful to believe the earth is flat though, so nobody really cares.

There's nothing wrong with youtube taking down information that we know to be false when that information is harmful. In fact, they should do more of that.
 

mundus

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Feb 26, 2018
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From https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/supporting-the-2020-us-election/

"we will start removing any piece of content uploaded today (or anytime after) that misleads people by alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election"

This has nothing to do threatening someone's life. And one man's proven falsehood is another's dissenting opinion. Take Bohter and his flat earth for example. You and I agree its a proven falsehood. He sees it as a dissenting opinion. I'm not comfortable with big tech deciding which is which.
Big tech owes no one a platform.
 

test_article

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Sep 25, 2009
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Body of Christ, Texas
From https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/supporting-the-2020-us-election/

"we will start removing any piece of content uploaded today (or anytime after) that misleads people by alleging that widespread fraud or errors changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election"

This has nothing to do threatening someone's life. And one man's proven falsehood is another's dissenting opinion. Take Bohter and his flat earth for example. You and I agree its a proven falsehood. He sees it as a dissenting opinion. I'm not comfortable with big tech deciding which is which.
I'm sure you can find a place online willing to host election results discussions. It's a big internet.
 

crustBrother

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Apr 23, 2001
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I'm sure you can find a place online willing to host election results discussions. It's a big internet.
I have no interest in discussing election results. I am interested in discussing who decides what information the public has widespread access to. Also interested in finding out how many other people share my interest.
 
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