Whatever happened to the good ol' solution of simply not participating in threads that annoy you while continuing to participate in threads that don't annoy you? Or are you saying that all of them are annoying you?
Correct for FB, according to court documents... https://insiderpaper.com/facebook-court-filing-fact-checks-are-protected-opinions/
"Meta Platforms doesn’t actually carry out the tasks it refers to as fact checking. The company hires outside, left-leaning parties to supposedly check the facts. For anyone who doesn’t hold views in line with the liberal left, it may seem obvious for some time that the social network has its own agenda".
Essentially you need to decide (seems you're already nearing a decision) to engage Covid misinformation/disinformation with countering facts. Yeah, I know, it doesn't stop the misinformation/disinformation but I do enjoy (engaging) making the Covidiots look stupid. I do agree that Covid misinformation can be dangerous to public safety but ET doesn't have the tools to police that crap because there's just too much of it here. Simply, protect your family and your own ass with the facts and wish the Covidiots "good luck". All the other stuff you're now mentioning that wasn't in your original post...its nothing to lose any sleep about. In fact, it's something you should be laughing out loud to and then ignoring it because it has no merits. Actually, most of that stuff, I'm a little shocked that people think it merits a debate (e.g. birtherism). wrbtrader
I believe the motivations of FB and TWTR curbing false COVID/Pandemic speech are: It's not just about those being annoyed, avoiding the speech; it's about the prevention of the more gullible for falling victim to the false speech. All forums are not interested in protecting the gullible. FB and TWTR also must agree that the information is false. All forums don't agree with the main street assertions; and actually embrace what you consider to be 'false' speech. Clearly, after all this time, the positions of online forums are clear, and deliberate.
The biggest idiots spreading lies and disinformation is GWB and his cohort of ET trolls. Add Frederick Nosight to that BS class. Like the fascists they are, they are trying to shutdown others pointing to their lies and disinformation. You do not want to be called out? Then, stop your lies and disinformation then, we do not have to embarrass you guys by pointing to the truth.
What gets me is highly respected newspapers like the UK Telegraph printing stuff from crazed anti-vaxers like the Royal College of Pediatricians. Wouldn't be allowed on twitter: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...ould-offered-children-young-five-next-spring/ Vaccinating primary school children is premature, Britain’s top paediatric body has said, after it emerged those as young as five could be offered the Covid jab next spring. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) on Saturday night called for better real-world evidence of the risks to the heart before widening the rollout further. It came after leaked NHS documents revealed provisional plans to offer the vaccine to children aged five to 11 in the first half of 2022. Young children face a miniscule risk of serious disease from Covid-19 itself. A recent study showed only six healthy children have died from the virus in England. However, there are concerns surrounding a very small risk of a heart inflammation condition called myocarditis from the Pfizer jab. Any decision to offer the jab to primary school-aged children would almost certainly be made to protect wider society, rather than the individuals themselves
Reminder, Facebook and Twitter weren't the only ones catering (allowing) misinformation/disinformation on their platforms for the increased views/clicks/followers and now trying to clip it after it got out of control... Many other social media platforms are obviously aware of the problem but seem just as confused as they were at the beginning of the Pandemic. That means the management or owners of the platforms themselves do not understand what's misinformation/disinformation and what's factual information. Elitetrader.com is just a microcosm of what's happening in the bigger picture. In fact, I see more members here at ET reposting misinformation/disinformation from Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Rumble, and many others...helping to spread it down the chain to smaller specific sites like ET. My point, you can't take a stand against it because you'll then need to take a stand at all those other resources. It's best to just use what you like about the sites and not use what you dislike about the sites...that in turn helps lower their views/click and maybe... It sends a message because they seem to be partially dependent upon the views/clicks/followers. That's what happens when Baron stated...good ol' solution of simply not participating in threads that annoy you while continuing to participate in threads that don't annoy you. ---------- Most Americans Have Been Duped by COVID Misinformation: Survey By Ken Terry Nov. 10, 2021 -- Nearly 8 in 10 U.S. S adults either believe or aren't sure about at least one of eight false statements about the COVID-19 pandemic or the COVID-19 vaccines, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey. Unvaccinated adults and Republicans are among those most likely to hold these misconceptions, the nationally representative poll shows. Overall, 78% believed at least one piece of misinformation. Nearly two-thirds of unvaccinated adults (64%) believe or are unsure about at least half of the eight false statements, compared with 19% of vaccinated adults. Forty-six percent of Republicans believe or are unsure about at least half of the statements, 3 times the share of Democrats in that category (14%). Independent voters were not factored into the survey results. The topline results show: Sixty percent of adults say they've heard that the government is exaggerating the number of COVID-19 deaths by counting deaths due to other factors and either believe it to be true (38%) or aren't sure if it's true (22%) Four in 10 (39%) respondents say they've heard that pregnant women should not get the COVID-19 vaccine and believe it to be true (17%) or aren't sure if it's true (22%) Three in 10 (31%) say they've heard that the vaccine has been shown to cause infertility and either believe it (8%) or aren't sure if it's true (23%) Thirty-five percent of respondents say they've heard that the government is hiding deaths from the COVID-19 vaccine; 18% believe it, and 17% say they're not sure if it's tru. Other statements attract less but substantial support: Twenty-eight percent of respondents have heard that the antiparasitic drug ivermectin is a safe and effective treatment for COVID; 14% believe it, 14% are not sure if it's true Twenty-four percent of Americans have heard that you can get COVID from the vaccine; 14% believe that to be true, while 10% are unsure Twenty-four percent of respondents have heard that the vaccines contain microchips; 7% believe it, 17% say they've heard that but don't know if it's true Twenty-one percent of Americans have heard claims that the vaccine can change DNA or don't know if it's true. Misinformation by News Source The report notes that "people's trusted news sources are correlated with their belief in COVID-19 misinformation." At least a third of those who trust information from CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and local and network TV news do not believe any of the eight false statements. Depending on their mix of these news sources, only 11%-16% of this group believe or are unsure about at least four of the eight false statements. In contrast, 36% of people who trust Fox News, 37% of those who trust One America News, and 46% of those who trust Newsmax say they believe or are unsure about at least half of the eight false statements. It's also notable that 44% of people who trust NPR, 48% of those who trust MSNBC, 50% of those who trust network news, and 49% of those who trust CNN believe or are unsure about one to three of the false statements. While larger shares of people who trust COVID information from conservative news sources believe misinformation, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the researchers say the survey cannot explain those beliefs. "Whether this is because people are exposed to misinformation from those news sources, or whether the types of people who choose those news sources are the same ones who are pre-disposed to believe certain types of misinformation for other reasons, is beyond the scope of the analysis," they write. The poll results show the role partisanship plays in which networks are trusted. Democrats trust COVID-19 information from network (72%) and local (66%) television, CNN (65%), MSNBC (56%), and NPR (51%). Republicans' most trusted news sources for COVID-19 information are Fox News (49%), local (34%) and network (25%) news, and Newsmax (22%). Few adults say they trust social-media sources for COVID-19 information, such as YouTube (13%), Facebook (9%), Twitter (6%), and Instagram (5%). However, the researchers write that the groups influenced by information they see on those platforms may be larger than these percentages indicate, as previous KFF surveys have found that nearly as many adults get information about COVID-19 vaccines from social media as from cable, network, and local TV news. Partisan COVID Mortality Gap Wherever people get their news, misinformation that determines their attitudes about COVID-19 and the vaccines has likely had real-world consequences. According to a recent article in The New York Times, a gap between the higher COVID death tolls in more Republican areas and lower death tolls in more Democratic areas of the country has developed in 2021 — with an association emerging between attitudes toward the COVID vaccines and the resulting willingness to be vaccinated between those regions. In October, the Times reports, 25 out of every 100,000 residents of counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump in the last presidential election died from COVID. That's 3 times higher than the mortality rate in counties that strongly supported Joe Biden (7.8 per 100,000). https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20211110/americans-duped-by-covid-misinformation ---------- It's sad and harmful because social media knows what attracts followers and they even know what type of misinformation/disinformation they should cater to in specific regions of the United States. wrbtrader