0 upvotes, 3 direct replies (showing 3)
View submission: COVID denialism and policy clarifications
What's your threshold for false statements that should be removed, and what threshold of evidence does it require?
For example, if back in March 2020 I argued strongly that the statements about masks being ineffective were not following multiple studies from Asia after MERS, and that masks absolutely were effective and everyone should be wearing one, under a strict "no covid misinformation" rule, that would have been removed as it directly contradicted the WHO and CDC despite being a scientifically accurate statement. It's clearly a less damaging statement than your example, but back then it could be argued I was posting misinformation that would lead to the deaths of medical staff due to lack of PPE.
The flip side is do we also ban Flat Earth subreddits? It's blatantly false. You may of course be totally consistent and say yes, but personally I would not want Flat Earth subs banned.
I completely understand your position but I am massively skeptical about banning unpopular views and would like to understand how you would differentiate between false and dangerous, and false but acceptable, because if **truth** is the only standard, a lot of subs have to go.
Comment by beestmode361 at 01/09/2021 at 22:43 UTC*
5 upvotes, 2 direct replies
These are all red herrings.
The issues at hand are the following:
A) whether or not the vaccine is proven to be safe and effective against COVID
B) whether or not ivermectin/hydroxychloroquine/shooting UV lasers up your ass/etc are proven to be safe and effective against COVID
Both of these decisions, in the US, are made by the FDA. The FDA decides what drugs are safe and effective, and also controls how those drugs are made and sold. All drugs not fully proven to be safe and effective are treated as unsafe until proven otherwise.
A) has been proven to be safe and effective
B) has not
None of your other examples involve going against clear FDA guidelines. The FDA doesn’t care about flat earthers and they don’t determine mask policies during a pandemic - the CDC does. The FDA is a powerful branch of the government who has the ability to stop (or even take control of) pharmaceutical manufacturing plants that are not meeting certain standards.
The only people choosing B) are doing so because of misinformation. Remember the people drinking bleach? Or taking horse pills? No one is going to an animal feed store and buying cow ivermectin to put into their stomach (or apparently four stomachs) unless they heard about it through misinformation. This misinformation is harmful and adds no value to public discourse. It’s also provably false. It doesn’t belong on Reddit or anywhere. People are literally dying from this misinformation. It doesn’t belong in our society.
The concept of censoring speech is not new and Reddit is a private platform that I believe should be held accountable for the deaths of the unvaccinated if they choose not to stop the spread of misinformation on their platform.
Comment by ChubbyChoomChoom at 02/09/2021 at 00:34 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
The flip side is do we also ban Flat Earth subreddits? It's blatantly false.
Oof. Better to have removed the weakest part of your weak argument.
No one gets sick or dies because they believe the earth is flat. It’s like believing the 1991 Denver Broncos were not one of the most legendary football teams of all time. Misguided but harmless.
Comment by [deleted] at 01/09/2021 at 22:40 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
It's clearly a less damaging statement than your example, but back then it could be argued I was posting misinformation that would lead to the deaths of medical staff due to lack of PPE.
I think recommending people to take extra precautions isn't bad, but telling people to take less precautions is. (For example telling people that they should wear masks outside, even though covid-19 wasn't really transmitted outside). But for example telling people they should stock up on random medicine or toilet paper is harmful.
I do think posts recommending people to stock up on PPE should be removed, since it is actually dangerous.