United States government taking a stance against "Fake News"

[fuzzyroes]

What kind of nonsense is this? Government trying to do away with peoples first amendment rights? It's clear that sites like Infowars and Breitbart are exposing all of their political secrets so now they're trying to do away with them under the umbrella of "fake news"

That doesn't even make sense! All news sites have reporters publishing opinion pieces were it's not fake nor real it's simply an opinion based on investigation. "news" is never black and white and to think that they're trying to sensor under a "fake" guideline breeches on every journalistic ethic that there is.

[fuzzyroes]

The official statement from Alex Jones:



This is a red level emergency.

Infowars, Breitbart, the Drudge Report and other independent sources are destroying the mainstream media narrative like never before, and the establishment is getting desperate.

In an effort to try and censor the liberty movement and free speech, the mainstream media is now attempting to label legitimate news sources like Infowars as "fake news" to push towards a government-led shut down of Infowars.com.

The Washington Post has even gone as far as to label sites like Infowars as "Russian propaganda fake news" web sites, exemplifying the last attempt of a dying media conglomerate to force out any and all dissenting voices.

Even more concerning, the United States House of Representatives quietly passed legislation targeting 'Russian propaganda' websites.

But the calls for censorship do not end with the United States.

The European Union is demanding that Twitter, YouTube and Facebook censor “illegal hate speech” within 24 hours and content that includes so-called “fake news,” a term so broad that it includes perfectly legitimate news content.

Microsoft, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have also announced that they will be ramping up efforts to remove "extremist" content from their websites by using a shared database of offenders.

And perhaps most importantly, Twitter has recently gone on record stating the company will ban President-Elect Donald J. Trump's Twitter account if he were to violate the company's "hate speech" rules.

We are calling on and asking President-Elect Donald J. Trump to take a stand against the establishment media's "fake news" attacks and to stop the impending censorship of independent media platforms like Infowars.com and others.

[buzzard]

How do you feel about propaganda, fuzz?

[fuzzyroes]

Hate it. It's a huge part of the mainstream news in America though.

[reprise85]

I have no problem with InfoWars et al. publishing what they want, but it's not "news" if it's conspiracy theory and shouldn't be labelled as such. It should be clear that it's a theory without concrete proof, and labelled as an editorial.

This is definitely a slippery slope issue and I don't necessarily agree with it, but there is a line that shouldn't be crossed (think Nazi propaganda) and that really does hurt society. How much I trust the gov't to define that line is a real issue.

[crabshack]

Gonna miss The Onion

[fuzzyroes]

Exactly man. That's where the problem lies.

The united states had no problem with fake news with those tabloids like the Enquirer and those ones at the super market with the aliens and shit but now that their grip on establishment politics is slipping they're panicking and have their wheels spinning regarding how to stop it.

The best way? silence the alternative news sites that are providing a mass awakening for people and label them as "fake news"... Slippery slippery slope they're planning on going down.

[buzzard]

Just think, fuzzy.

If fake news had been banned a year ago, you might not have been so convinced that Clinton had stolen the election ahead of time through voting machine hacking and widespread identity theft.

[buzzard]

Exactly, man! Only us truthers are smart enough to believe anything we read (so long as it conforms to our already-held political beliefs) on poorly formatted blogs with fantastical notions per paragraph ratios to rival the works of Tolkien.

Let the sheeple cling to their sinking ship of formal logic and evidentiary standards as the anti-establishment movement is ushered in by billionaire nepotists, Republican National Committee chairmen, Goldman Sachs executives, Fox News analysts and a professional propagandist riding Machiavellian sycophancy all the way to the top.

[Disco King]

"Now that the Republicans control every lever of government, let's try to get the government to decide what real news is!"

Omg are the Democrats this fucking stupid?

Even ignoring that, yes, fake news is awful and proliferating at an increased rate, and even beyond news that is fake, people are consuming more biased "news" and editorials because with the internet, people can curate what they are exposed to, and confirmation and selection bias leads them to only read shit that doesn't challenge their assumptions. Of course, the mainstream media has biases of it's own due to corporate ownership, the need to maintain friendly relationships with politicians in order to get access, and the reliance upon advert revenue. And the internet has allowed for the circulation of more independent media outside of the narrow mainstream. But it has also allowed for a lot of bullshit that lets people stay in their own little bubbles at their preferred ends of the opinion spectrum.

Despite all that, the government has absolutely no place in trying to decide what is "fake news." I don't know what sort of legislation is being discussed, but it's hard to imagine any sort of government action on this that could be anything other than a threat to freedom of expression. There is absolute garbage filling the minds of some people, but having people like TOC and Fuzzy going around is simply the price we pay for an open society.

Susceptibility to claims that lack credibility should be fought through debates in civil society, and using the education system to give people the intellectual tools to assess claims on their merits through reason and empiricism. It shouldn't be fought by the government telling people what to think.

[buzzard]

Perhaps it could work like the Federal Trade Commission guidelines requiring that journalists and celebrities disclose their relationship with companies in the case of a paid product endorsement.

Articles on InfoWars, for example, could be tagged with #utterbollocks or #profitablepoppycock.

[Catherine Wheel]

"People like TOC and fuzzy"

So you're actually pretending like you are better than those 2. Like when you come here you can look down on them and not feel so bad about how you are yourself. I've said it before. Don't pretend like you are better than TOC or fuzzy. Like there is some kind of real hierarchy here. There isn't.

[smashingjj]

Ah you forgot to add Catherine Wheel to your little 'people like' lost, Buzzard

[duovamp]

Oh what decisions a person makes when those decisions are based on lies.

[duovamp]

The origin is the problem obviously. And the lack of investigation and willingness of Americans to assume the worst fuels it and allows it to spread.

[redbreegull]

CW and TOC are both on a similar level of delusional

[duovamp]

Just don't engage and dignify with a response.

[run2pee]

Is this thread, itself, fake news? I haven't heard anything official from the us gov re fake news. Only stray comments from an obama interview and hilldawg speech. Doesn't strike me as a "crack down"

Can someone help me decide what to think and believe it hurts to do this myself

[Catherine Wheel]

Originally Posted by Poots

Pretend that you are an island and no opinions outside of those agreeing with your own even exist.

What they do here is even worse because they actually use TOC and fuzzy to feel better about themselves. Placing themselves high above those 2. Never outright ignoring them. Just talking down to them. It's all just different levels of dysfunction. It's all relative.

[buzzard]

That's true, actually.

Kind of like how an eighty pound suitcase and an elephant with a pituitary gland tumor are both heavy.

[Catherine Wheel]

Fuzzy and TOC both have conspiracy theories and no common sense. And most of the other people here have anxiety and depression. And so they become "I'm not as bad as these guys."

[Disco King]

Originally Posted by Catherine Wheel

Like there is some kind of real hierarchy here. There isn't.

No hierarchy here? Didn't you read the username? It's Disco King, you peasant.

[Disco King]

Poops

[ohnoitsbonnie]

Pen pineapple apple pen

[myosis]

Originally Posted by Catherine Wheel

What they do here is even worse because they actually use TOC and fuzzy to feel better about themselves. Placing themselves high above those 2. Never outright ignoring them. Just talking down to them. It's all just different levels of dysfunction. It's all relative.

i don't know if you noticed, but TOC constantly talks down to all of us.

[myosis]

those two are pretty bad in their own category

[buzzard]

Has anybody ever purchased anything from the InfoWars online store?

I mean, Alex has kindly warned us about the looming breakdown of society at the hands of a geoplutocratic elite bent on global domination and so it'd be remiss of us all not to buy a few units of Survival Shield X-2 Nascent Iodine or a year's worth of InfoWars Life Select emergency foodstuffs. It's not as if he'd willingly propagate a sense of fear and paranoia just to grow his personal wealth, right?

[fuzzyroes]

Originally Posted by Disco King

Despite all that, the government has absolutely no place in trying to decide what is "fake news." I don't know what sort of legislation is being discussed, but it's hard to imagine any sort of government action on this that could be anything other than a threat to freedom of expression.

Amen brother. If the government decides what is "fake news" or real than we're no better than the other communist countries across the globe where the government decides what news the people are allowed to read.

There's a first amendment for a reason and it's quite comical that even Hillary Clinton has reemerged from her hide-out and is now raging against the fake news "epidemic"...

... They sure didn't give a fuck before? But less than 1 month after Trump wins from having the support of all the alternative media sites they're now rebelling against it...

Too fucking obvious.

[Catherine Wheel]

Rbg has asked me several times to leave. Like staying here poses a threat to his little sanctuary. He private messaged me last time almost begging me to leave. Like out of desperation. It made me laugh.

[The Omega Concern]

Originally Posted by reprise85

I have no problem with InfoWars et al. publishing what they want, but it's not "news" if it's conspiracy theory and shouldn't be labelled as such. It should be clear that it's a theory without concrete proof, and labelled as an editorial.

This is definitely a slippery slope issue and I don't necessarily agree with it, but there is a line that shouldn't be crossed (think Nazi propaganda) and that really does hurt society. How much I trust the gov't to define that line is a real issue.

Thanks for showcasing your profound ignorance. Whatever you think of AJ, the man is a walking talking encyclopedia of FOIA requests. And if you don't know what FOIA means, gtfo off this thread with your head-up-yo-ass opinions.