Social media cannot ensure they only publish truths. But what about deliberate falsehoods designed to damage?Are social media companies responsible for the lies their users tell? Both the obvious answers, “yes” and “no”, are clearly wrong. Complete responsibility is a bad idea, and impossible in practice: even in China, the home of the largest and most sophisticated censorship apparatus on the web, the internet is expected to slow down markedly in the coming weeks under the burden of combing through it to ensure that no references to the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre are published. And, as the Chinese example shows, there are also considerable difficulties that arise when any one organisation can decide what counts as truth or falsehood. Yet it can’t be right, either, to say that social media companies have no responsibility to exercise the powers they have to remove obnoxious material from their servers. Videos of murder, child abuse and other horrors are routinely and rightly removed. It will be objected that these are horrible precisely because they are not lies – they record things that really happened. But that doesn’t stand up. It is no defence, either in British law, or in any moral sense, to say that a video of atrocity is faked. If it works as propaganda for jihadis, or for child abusers, it will be censored and its originators punished if that’s possible.The platforms have been much more reluctant to act against lies which promote causes... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2019-05-27 17:25:07 UTC ]
Whether you're looking to belly laugh, contemplate the future of humanity, or dig into conspiracy theories, I have a sci-fi read for you! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-05-30 10:34:00 UTC ]
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Doppelganger, due out this autumn, examines ‘the wildness of right now’, including personal issues arising from being confused with Naomi Wolf Award-winning author and Guardian columnist Naomi Klein is to publish a book about conspiracy theories, which she has described as a departure and “more... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-05-17 13:00:30 UTC ]
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Bishop T. D. Jakes’ latest, Christian tactics for debunking fake news and conspiracy theories, and time-traveling fiction are among new religion and spirituality books publishing in May. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-04-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Lauren Oyler’s debut novel brings the reader down a rabbit hole of endless, mindless scrolling, online identities, and conspiracy theories. Fake Accounts follows the journey of a young woman after she discovers that her boyfriend is running an Instagram account spouting dangerous conspiracies... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2021-02-26 12:00:00 UTC ]
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What if the stories we tell in order to live happen to be conspiracy theories? William J. Bernstein on the evolutionary origins of collective delusion. | Lit Hub History Refugee, resident, dissident: Yiyun Li introduces Bette Howland’s 1974 memoir about her stay in a Chicago psychiatric... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-15 11:30:00 UTC ]
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In this week’s episode of Fiction/Non/Fiction, co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan are joined by author Jenny Offill and literary and film critic James Plath. First Offill shares her reaction to the insurrection and attempted coup at the Capitol last week, and discusses her latest... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-14 09:49:01 UTC ]
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Over the past few months, we’ve been more swamped by misinformation than ever before. As if current events weren’t confusing and anxiety-causing enough, we’re also awash in unfounded rumours, inaccurate hot takes, conspiracy theories, and dangerously unscientific medical ‘advice’. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-01 01:33:12 UTC ]
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The Cliveden Literary Festival returned for a third time last weekend with Ian McEwan, Howard Jacobson and Elif Shafak among the authors taking part in a busy event that saw speakers discuss topics from feminism to Russian spies, cyberwarfare and conspiracy theories to secrets of the universe. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-30 13:22:16 UTC ]
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Social media cannot ensure they only publish truths. But what about deliberate falsehoods designed to damage?Are social media companies responsible for the lies their users tell? Both the obvious answers, “yes” and “no”, are clearly wrong. Complete responsibility is a bad idea, and impossible in... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2019-05-27 17:25:07 UTC ]
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Alex Jones, Infowars, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson, Laura Loomer, Paul Nehlen, and Louis Farrakhan have all been removed from the platforms. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2019-05-02 18:01:07 UTC ]
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Jack Dorsey refuses to follow Apple, Facebook and YouTube in banning Jones, saying he will be guided by principles rather than pressureTwitter founder Jack Dorsey has defended his company’s decision to continue publishing the controversial tweets of the American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-08-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist, radio show host and publisher of the extremist right-wing website InfoWars, is co-writing a book with "The Game" author Neil Strauss, CNN reports. The network obtained a proposal sent to major publishers for a book to be titled “The Secret History of the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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This week: John Lennon's secret island, a philosophical mind-bender, and why we believe conspiracy theories. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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