I've always wondered why we can't sue politicians or news organizations for mental duress or anguish. I know they have Freedom of speech protections, but is there no way around that? Like, if they're doing it to intentionally cause mischief or purposefully make people question their own reality, is there not a law that protects us from that?
@Parrah No, and there's a pretty strong argument to be made for it being a good thing the 1st amendment disallows that.
Who's the one who gets to decide true speech from fiction? Because at that point you have to give some human persons the power to decide what is legitimate political argument and what is not. And the potential for that to go sideways should be pretty self-apparent. The people you hate the most will work the hardest to be the ones who get to decide.
@biohazard In my perfect world, politicians and people who "influence" others would not be allowed to spread disinformation that harms others. History proves that weaponized harmful manipulation destroys everything it reaches in the end.
@Parrah @biohazard The question there is who gets to decide what disinformation is. Then who gets to decide who that person is, and why were they the ones to decide? Imagine we implemented this three years ago, but the person who gets to decide what is and isn't disinformation is Alex Jones....
@Parrah @biohazard yes, Alex is complete and utter trash.
I think the point is, who is doing the "proving the statements are lies"?
You can tell me all day long the sky is blue. I will never believe you. I'm color-blind and will never be able to say that "the sky is blue" is the truth.
So many things now that people and politicians say are provably false, but you will never be able to convince some people that they are.
The question is who is doing the "proving the stament false" if its you or me and we are objective in saying something is truth thats one thing.
If its someone like Alex jones saying that something is true thats another.
I dont want anyone, including you me or alex to be the final arbiter of whats true.
Alex Jones lied about matters of fact. It wasn't actually a political issue, he's just a figure who is active/relevant politically.
But having people decide what is and what is not a "valid" or "truthful" political argument allowed to even be spoken is an open invitation for fascists to use the process to control speech per their whims.
@mgulla @biohazard If a lie can be proven as a lie, how does that then make it a possible truth, no matter who calls themselves the truth teller? And if that lie can be proven to have been manufactured to deceive and manipulate, how can it then be excused as acceptable? Alex Jones lied. It was proven. Hes now on the hook for millions of dollars. If someone lies on the stand, they are fined or imprisoned. If my kid lies, shes grounded. It should be the same for our representatives.