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I vehemently agree with this .... however I think platform intervention against potential incitement is the best of a very bad set of choices available for how to handle the next six months.

The ability of social media platforms to spread malicious propaganda intended to incite division is incredibly dangerous. The moment where a US president has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election is absolutely not the moment to test how well society can withstand the use of social media as a propaganda platform.

Society needs a long term solution for social media--my take is that it should be shut down completely--but this is a short-term emergency and now is not the time to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Being cautious is not a virtue when erring on the side of caution may lead to tanks in the streets.




> The ability of social media platforms to spread malicious propaganda intended to incite division is incredibly dangerous.

No it’s not, this is propaganda. If Facebook/Twitter wanted to tomorrow they could limit stuff in your feed to people you know IRL. This would take less than 1 sprint for top tier engineers with the right access to implement and ship.

They’re only dangerous because the real problem is social media’s hypergrowth strategies are incompatible with policies that are good for society.

Any suggestion otherwise is like oil companies encouraging end users to recycle.




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