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Originally Posted by Sliver
Well I'm surprised you guys think it's so harmless to spread baseless lies. It's very counter-productive for society to be blase about the dissemination of misinformation. I think those with facts should push back on stupidity and lies. It is possible for whole groups of people to be wrong (eg Nazis) and allowing untruths to be told is wrong in and of itself, let alone the damage it can cause in extreme cases.
Look at the town hall meetings in the States from a few weeks ago. Stupidity, lies and misinformation are leading to chaotic and dangerous situations in the USA, not to mention the damage to people's lives that will be caused if the States doesn't begin to reform their sub-par medical system. The only thing holding progress back is the outspoken "free speech" of dopes and the inability of the truth to contain lies.
I don't know how lies should be contained, but to deny the harm they cause is naive.
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Lies are only harmful to the stupid. Those who can't think for themselves or allow emotion to trump logic.
If you start limiting the spread of (mis)information, you start to slide down a pretty slippery slope and inevitably valuable and important information will get caught in the same net. You mention the Nazis as examples of people that should be censored, but remember the Nazis achieved the control they did in part through censorship. All information contrary to Nazi views was destroyed and censored. Censorship can be just as dangerous as misinformation.
Society would be much better served by trying to limit the stupid. Education, civil and rational debate, and the free and open exchange of ideas is the best defence we have against them. You think anyone that engaged in any one of those activities in regards to Kirk Cameron would take him seriously?