Policing the internet

[johnofgwent]

No. But what does that have to do with anything? There is a lot of disinformation on the Internet

Amen to that. Who'd be the webmaster for a political party these days 

[B0ycey]

It's funny you should say that I was looking at some Irish forums to see attitudes compared to Gerry who posts on here,this one
https://politics.ie/

They have a different attitude to covid threads to here see what a mod says

I would like to say this was solely down to Covid Cromwell. But disinformation is everywhere. BoJo fell for disinformation when he claimed unemployment is down since the pandemic the other day because he read something that was to his liking. It doesn't mean it was right.

What we have today is an Internet full of links. I have lost count the amount of times on forums (not so much this one but on others) where someone's source for their opinion is a tweeter post. This policy doesn't address all disinformation but it does attack harmful content. I am not against free speech I might add. I don't have a problem with users saying they don't want to be vaccinated. What I do have a problem with is seeing links from BS.com that vaccines have no effect whatsoever or over playing the risks (which are at a million to one of some form of reaction not death) and then saying reliable sources are not to be trusted. I have always thought social media should be regulated at the same standards as publishers for the simple fact we shouldn't accept that conspiracy theories have the same weight of argument to it just because some loser has created a thread of nonsense facts that you can be linked.

[cromwell]

disinformation is an art as old as mankind itself. There is disinformation everywhere, but unlike the holier than thou bbc , the internet doesnt claim to be unbiased or not have content that could possibly disinform.

Oh blimey Thomas I wish I'd picked another link now the beeb were merely referencing it like a lot of other media outlets.

No. But what does that have to do with anything? There is a lot of disinformation on the Internet and as such the Social media outlets will have a lot of work on their hands. We have some anti vaxxers on here if you didn't notice and if they link disinformation that is harmful to health, they will be causing an offence if this goes through. Which might be a headache to the owner of the site. He would have to police that.

It's funny you should say that I was looking at some Irish forums to see attitudes compared to Gerry who posts on here,this one
https://politics.ie/

They have a different attitude to covid threads to here see what a mod says

While posters or readers shouldn't look to politics.ie to obtain medical advice or recommendations, some posters, out of an attempt to be helpful, are posting information that they have heard or received through social media (or other methods) that is neither accurate, helpful or even legitimate advice. Many of us will have recently received texts, WhatsApp chats, Facebook IMs etc that contain unsourced, unverified and not just misleading information but inaccurate information. Posters should seek medical advice from their doctors and/or health advisers/practitioners.
 
We ask that you refrain from posting advice or recommendations here on politics.ie unless it's from a recognized health or government authority, such as, (but not limited to,) the World Health Organisation (WHO) , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), the Health Service Executive (HSE) , the National Health Service (NHS), the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) etc

If you do post advice or recommendations, please source it with credible links. We are all aware of guidance about items like social distancing, hand-washing, self-quarantine etc but posts with old wives tales, witches concoctions, fake science, stories from your neighbour's, Aunt's, dogwalker's, doctor etc from social media or elsewhere are subject to removal.

Everyone can play a part here and we ask that you kindly report posts with advice and recommendations that are not credibly sourced.

Thanks

[Barry]

It's not about freedom of speech, that is for sure. Anything Nick Clegg disagrees with will be taken down.
Who checks the "fact checkers"?

[Thomas]

? There is a lot of disinformation on the Internet

disinformation is an art as old as mankind itself. There is disinformation everywhere, but unlike the holier than thou bbc , the internet doesnt claim to be unbiased or not have content that could possibly disinform.

[B0ycey]

Well at a guess I would be thinking the net will be much wider in the long run. As once they have taken them down, they see as a threat who will be next?
Not that I even bother with social media I guess that takes a different kind of mentality.

The policy is merely sorting out a problem that has been left to grow for some time. Social media hasn't been legislated and now it is over run with harmful content. It is also has different rules compared to a publisher which makes no sense whatsoever. The polarisation and extreme thinking isn't a coincidence. It is linked to the internet age. But we need to be careful in any case. There is harmful content and there is freedom of speech. Any such policy needs to be specific and target harm not speech. Without seeing the detail, I hope this is the case.

[Sheepy]

No. But what does that have to do with anything? There is a lot of disinformation on the Internet and as such the Social media outlets will have a lot of work on their hands. We have some anti vaxxers on here if you didn't notice and if they link disinformation that is harmful to health, they will be causing an offence if this goes through. Which might be a headache to the owner of the site. He would have to police that.

Well at a guess I would be thinking the net will be much wider in the long run. As once they have taken them down, they see as a threat who will be next? 
Not that I even bother with social media I guess that takes a different kind of mentality. 

[B0ycey]

I don't know any personally, do you?

No. But what does that have to do with anything? There is a lot of disinformation on the Internet and as such the Social media outlets will have a lot of work on their hands. We have some anti vaxxers on here if you didn't notice and if they link disinformation that is harmful to health, they will be causing an offence if this goes through. Which might be a headache to the owner of the site. He would have to police that. 

[Sheepy]

Well there are a lot of anti vaxxers out there. Seems the social network is going to have a lot of work on their hands.

I don't know any personally, do you? 

[B0ycey]

There is a wide net if ever I saw one.

Well there are a lot of anti vaxxers out there. Seems the social network is going to have a lot of work on their hands.

[Sheepy]

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-60264178

There is a wide net if ever I saw one. 

[Barry]

It'll get busy for you admin and moderator types! 

[cromwell]

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-60264178