Tucker Carlson interview with Putin to test EU law regulating tech companies::Law obliges social media platforms to remove illegal content – with fears that interview will give Russian leader propaganda coup

  • hedgehog@ttrpg.network
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    9 months ago

    Ok, well it was intended to be an opinion, so your assertion that I’m incorrect is incorrect because its my opinion, but that aside, which part?

    My understanding is that your opinion is “This is bullshit because X” (where “X” refers to this law applying to Lemmy and thus having the implications you outlined) but your comment was almost entirely about it applying to Lemmy and the implications. If your opinion were “It would be bullshit if it applied to Lemmy,” I would agree with you, but point out that it does not.

    This essentially adds up to government proctorship of any “public forum” on the internet, including here…

    This is incorrect because the law does not apply to Lemmy. See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Services_Act and the associated sources for more details on why. If you believe that Lemmy has more than 45 million users in the EU please share where you’re getting those figures.

    So if I randomly throw an “all lives matter” right here mid-comment, which while at face value is a ridiculously benign thing to say, can be and almost always is considered to be hate speech, lemmy is entirely obligated to immediately remove my comment or face heavy sanctions from the EU.

    This hypothetical scenario is irrelevant and the conclusion about Lemmy’s obligations are incorrect because the law does not apply to Lemmy.

    It’s an extreme caricature of an example that I assume won’t go anywhere, but the point is that it could, and the deciding factor on that isn’t anyone here, the deciding factor is a bunch of rando EU officials…

    “The point is that it could” is incorrect because you have misinterpreted the law as applying to Lemmy when it does not.

    If some Karen in Wales in the right position decides she doesn’t like my comment, she could initiate a “hefty” fine against lemmy admins.

    See above. Karen could do no such thing, even if she was in the EU.

    It’s an absurd concept, and I don’t say that in the context of tuker Carlson (who I simply don’t give two shits about in any context), I say that in the context of us, as a “social media” community.

    This is the 5th sentence.

    We are subject to this proctorship, this censorship…

    This is incorrect because as Lemmy users, we are not subject to it, as the law does not apply to Lemmy.

    Technically this would be true if you made this statement about those of us who are users of social media platforms to which the laws do apply, but that would be incongruent with your previous statements (and would assume that we are all users of those platforms - and many Lemmy users are not), so I find it fair to not allow for that possibility.

    • aelwero@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Sounds an awful lot like sticking your head in the sand.

      “Social media” is going to be whatever they decide they want government oversight on… Not being part of the introductory offer isnt a very good reason to accept it in my opinion.

      They’ll come for your forum eventually…

      • hedgehog@ttrpg.network
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        9 months ago

        Stating that it applies to Lemmy today is categorically untrue. If you think that explaining why you were wrong is the same as sticking my head in the sand, then that’s evidence that you’re failing at basic logic and reasoning, because that progression is unsound. Are you just mad and not thinking straight or is this indicative of your normal capacity? If the latter, would you like help improving at that or are you committed to carrying on as is?

        Your second paragraph is an example of the slippery slope fallacy and your last is simple fearmongering. Do you have any reason to believe those statements or are they, too, just your “opinions?”

        I get the impression that you might be under the understanding that you can say anything and call it an opinion. That isn’t actually how opinions work, and in fact, “I’m entitled to my opinion” is a logical fallacy when applied to statements of fact. It’s an especially dangerous one as it’s a thought stopper that enables cognitive dissonance, which is how you end up in a cult. (If you’ve read 1984, “doublethink” is an extreme example of cognitive dissonance.) I suggest you disabuse yourself of the fallacy.

            • aelwero@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              No, were just apparently on very different wavelengths here (I’m totally fine with this personally, no animosity intended at all, I like discourse and you don’t seem like you’re being a dick about it, so we’re on friendly terms here from my perspective)

              Do you not think that government determination of what is or is not acceptable on “social media” (quotes because generalizing) is eerily similar to thoughtcrime? And an orwellian policy? Making a 1984 reference in its defense a little ironic?

              I realize I discounted the bulk of your comment and all the “logical fallacy” buzz phrases you threw in, but I generally consider that pedantry and responding to it would bring in bad vibes on my side, so I skipped it, sorry. I can engage it, but I won’t have anything to say on it worth reading, it’ll just be old guy bullshit…

              • hedgehog@ttrpg.network
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                9 months ago

                No, were just apparently on very different wavelengths here

                Agreed. I promise that I’m trying my best to understand your perspective, too.

                we’re on friendly terms here from my perspective

                No disagreement here.

                Do you not think that government determination of what is or is not acceptable on “social media” (quotes because generalizing) is eerily similar to thoughtcrime? And an orwellian policy? Making a 1984 reference in its defense a little ironic?

                No, not at all.

                First of all, the alternative is that you give the power to determine what’s acceptable entirely to corporations. Almost all corporations already prohibited the sort of speech that would be impacted by these laws.

                Second of all, thoughtcrime is fundamentally a different animal than what the EU is doing. Thoughtcrime is the policing of thoughts that are contrary to what the government wants you to think, regardless of whether those thoughts are actually harmful, and it’s implemented via pervasive surveillance and a lack of privacy. Criticizing the government is, of course, prohibited.

                By contrast, the EU is mandating the censorship of hate speech and calls for violence. The sentiments and logic associated with that hate speech are used as justification for violence and to restrict liberties. And this type of speech is not legally protected in the US under the 1st Amendment.

                In 1984, the government rewrites history and uses a multitude of techniques that trick you into accepting things that are not true as being true. This is why it’s important to be able to recognize logical fallacies - they’re used by all sorts of propaganda techniques with the goal of getting people to act against their own best interests, e.g., by getting poor people to vote for Republicans or to support laws that infringe on our liberties by justifying them by saying “It’s for the children!” The world would be a better place if misinformation and misleading propaganda at scale (meaning, in advertisement, on news shows, etc.) were illegal.

                I don’t have to engage in doublethink to accept the justification for the EU’s law, but the arguments that you’ve shared for why I should oppose it would require that of me. Ultimately, what I’m asking you is: why would I be opposed to a law that itself is 100% fine, just because the same legislators might later pass a different law that I don’t like? This law doesn’t make it any easier for them to pass one like what you described.

                • aelwero@lemmy.world
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                  9 months ago

                  Ultimately, what I’m asking you is: why would I be opposed to a law that itself is 100% fine, just because the same legislators might later pass a different law that I don’t like?

                  Ultimately because the basic premise of the law could (in general) be the basis for the government to remove our entire conversation here…

                  It is potentially a tool to do this

                  In 1984, the government rewrites history and uses a multitude of techniques that trick you into accepting things that are not true as being true.

                  I don’t object for the sake of my my benefit, I object for the sake of yours (everyone).

                  I see it a one degree increment on the proverbial frog in the proverbial pot, being slowly but surely brought to boil and it’s death, and I don’t really care who it affects in the moment.

                  • hedgehog@ttrpg.network
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                    9 months ago

                    Ultimately because the basic premise of the law could (in general) be the basis for the government to remove our entire conversation here…

                    It is potentially a tool to do this

                    In 1984, the government rewrites history and uses a multitude of techniques that trick you into accepting things that are not true as being true.

                    The laws are completely unlike another, so the progression you’ve described isn’t a concern. One law regulates mega corporations who already have relationships with EU countries; the one you’ve described would regulate ordinary people.

                    Corporations aren’t people, no matter what they would have you believe. They don’t need to be defended in the same way.

                    And of course any of those people outside the EU could just ignore them. So even if I thought it were likely that the EU would do this, I wouldn’t care. If the EU sanctioned a Lemmy instance, it wouldn’t ultimately matter; Lemmy instance owners would need to ensure that their hosting setup was outside the EU but that’s it.

                    I don’t object for the sake of my my benefit, I object for the sake of yours (everyone).

                    I see it a one degree increment on the proverbial frog in the proverbial pot, being slowly but surely brought to boil and it’s death, and I don’t really care who it affects in the moment.

                    I’m concerned about people’s freedom being effectively taken away by corporations - e.g., pushing up the price of housing by “investing” in the housing market and making it unaffordable for lower income people; lobbying for regulations that make it unaffordable for small businesses to enter spaces that large businesses already exist in; lobbying for regulations that make it difficult to exert our power against them; heck, just being treated as people and being able to donate to political campaigns in the first place; exploiting workers; exploiting resources; and so on.

                    I’m concerned about the ways that the US government takes away our individual and collective freedoms - e.g., gerrymandering; refusal to implement a proper system for elections that doesn’t result in people thinking their votes are being wasted if they vote for third parties; the rights of women that have been revoked with Roe v. Wade being overturned and the laws passed since; our public school budgets being siphoned to subsidize private schools for the rich; slashing public aid programs such that we become even more beholden to corporations; and so on.

                    There is a frog being boiled, but it’s us, and the stove is much closer to home.