I guess I was just hoping that some people would do the right thing and not allow the dangerous ignorance to flourish here, unabated. Also, I do understand that there are people who prefer to remain ignorant because they like the familiar, and little will get them to change willingly. But when their continuing and intentional ignorance can impact on my safety, then I am less inclined to remain laissez-faire. If anything, I think that a responsible government would take more stringent measures rather than remain sensitive to dangerously stupid people's delicate sensibilities. I wish social media would act similarly within their purview. This is a pandemic, after all, people continue to die needlessly, and normalcy has justifiably not yet been restored. Fuck hurt feelings. Especially stupid hurt feelings. To add insult to injury, they complain about the effect that protective measures (which keep them alive) are having on the economy. And it is their very conduct that is contributing to the dragging out of these protective measures.
My man Frederick! You have been radicalised HARD lol It is so entertaining watching a person descend into incoherent madness driven by social media fear mongering. Keep it up dude we all need a laugh.
Fascism is in full display here by our ET trolls. They are losing the debate on practically, everything. So, like the little babies they are, the are crying to you Baron to censor contrary opinion to theirs. I submit instead, those who post lies and disinformation repeatedly like our ET trolls do, on a regular basis, even spamming the whole ET message board should all be banned. ET would be a better place without these liars spreading their vitriol, lies and disinformation. If there are any individuals to be censored, it should be our ET trolls who add nothing of value to the ET message boards.
I do know for a fact that more people would have DIED and more people would have been HOSPITALIZED had we not had approved vaccines and not had approved antiviral therapeutic treatments. Yeah, its shocking that some traders at a forum aren't able to do proper risk assessment about their health and the same by those not doing proper risk assessment about the misinformation/disinformation they're posting. The key aspect...that's their right...their choice about not being vaccinated but I'm not sure why they're allowed to post misinformation to support their decision to not be vaccinated. I have not forgotten not too long ago one idiot posting a collage of videos about soccer players injured / dying BEFORE the Pandemic, in some cases several years before... Posting it as if this is what happens to someone when a healthy athlete got the Covid vaccine. I'm a huge soccer fan and I took apart the misinformation/disinformation for each soccer player in the video including giving specific months/dates of the injury that resulted in them stricken on the field of play that was being used as misinformation for today's Covid vaccines... A few of the athletes not only were not vaccinated...the athletes are against vaccination. What Happen? A few days later another covidiot here at the forum posted a different video with the same collage of soccer players as misinformation/disinformation to attack vaccines...he did it because he knows he's allowed to do such because the video/images from the prior covidiot is allowed to remain and there's nothing in ET's TOU policy against such. It some ways, it almost looks like a coordinated attack of misinformation/disinformation by the exact same individuals but for what purpose here at a trading forum ??? That's my way of summarizing your complaint here in this thread. P.S. The above is just a rhetorical question not worth answering because I know it's just fear-mongering by those against vaccines. wrbtrader
You just don't get what a slippery slope you are advocating. So you want posts removed, maybe people banned, because they say things you disagree with, things you don't like. Things that in your mind rise to the level of dangerous misinformation. Should I also remove posts, maybe ban people such as yourself, because you say things that someone else disagrees with, things that they don't like. Things that in their mind also rise to the level of dangerous misinformation. I mean it's only fair that you're not the sole arbiter of truth, because just about everyone feels the same way about their grasp of facts, their grasp of what Colbert calls "truthiness". Maybe it's better to be very reluctant to impose censorship — which may not always fall the way you want it to — and let adults consider the sources, the logic of the arguments, and make their own judgments about various commentary.
@Magna @Frederick Foresight @wrbtrader FWIW: A quick search revealed Twitter's policy and a reference to Facebook's policy: COVID-19 misleading information policy Overview December 2021 You may not use Twitter’s services to share false or misleading information about COVID-19 which may lead to harm. Even as scientific understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to develop, we’ve observed the emergence of persistent conspiracy theories, alarmist rhetoric unfounded in research or credible reporting, and a wide range of false narratives and unsubstantiated rumors, which left uncontextualized can prevent the public from making informed decisions regarding their health, and puts individuals, families and communities at risk. Content that is demonstrably false or misleading and may lead to significant risk of harm (such as increased exposure to the virus, or adverse effects on public health systems) may not be shared on Twitter. This includes sharing content that may mislead people about the nature of the COVID-19 virus; the efficacy and/or safety of preventative measures, treatments, or other precautions to mitigate or treat the disease; official regulations, restrictions, or exemptions pertaining to health advisories; or the prevalence of the virus or risk of infection or death associated with COVID-19. What is in violation of this policy? In order for content related to COVID-19 to considered violative under this policy, it must: advance a claim of fact, expressed in definitive terms; be demonstrably false or misleading, based on widely available, authoritative sources; and be likely to impact public safety or cause serious harm Tweet Removal We may require customers to delete Tweets that are found to violate this policy and are severely harmful. We may also temporarily lock you out of your account before you can Tweet or share information again. These tweets will accrue 2 strikes in accordance with our strike policy stated below. We will require the deletion of Tweets that contain, for example: False claims about COVID-19 that invoke a deliberate conspiracy by malicious and/or powerful forces, such as: The pandemic is a hoax, or part of a deliberate attempt at population control, or that 5G wireless technology is causing COVID-19. COVID-19 is not a real disease. Immunizations are part of a global surveillance, population control or depopulation effort. Vaccines (in general) are dangerous and the adverse effects that have been covered up by governments/the medical industry. Vulnerable groups (such as pregnant women, the elderly, or children) are being experimented on. That COVID-19 vaccines are causing magnetic reactions in individuals who have been vaccinated. That vaccines approved by health agencies (such as Pfizer's Comirnaty vaccine in the United States) did not actually receive full approval/authorization, and therefore that the vaccines are untested, “experimental” or somehow unsafe. Claims that specific groups or people (or other demographically-identifiable identity) are more or less prone to be infected or to develop adverse symptoms on the basis of their membership in that group; False or misleading claims about potentially harmful and unapproved treatments or preventative measures, for example, that chlorine dioxide or Povidone-iodine can be used as a prophylactic or in the treatment of COVID-19. False or misleading information about official regulations, restrictions, or exemptions pertaining to health advisories. Any efforts to promote, advertise, facilitate the sale of, or provide instructions on how to create fraudulent vaccination cards (or other digital records) or “exemption cards." False information about widely accepted testing methodologies, such as that PCR tests are unable to detect the virus. False claims that suggest that vaccines contain deadly and severely harmful ingredients. False affiliation - Accounts which misrepresent their affiliation, or share content that falsely represents its affiliation to a medical practitioner, public health official or agency, research institution, or that falsely suggests expertise on COVID-19 issues. Tweet Label When Tweets include misleading information about COVID-19, we may place a label on those Tweets that includes corrective information about that claim. In cases where we determine there is potential for harm associated with the misleading claim, we will disable the ability for others to Retweet, Quote Tweet, or engage in other ways to prevent the spread of the misleading information. These tweets will accrue 1 strike in accordance with our strike policy stated below. In some cases we may also add labels to provide context in situations where authoritative (scientific or otherwise) opinion might change or is changing over time, in situations where local context is important, or when the potential for harm is less direct or imminent. We may also apply labels on Tweets linking to content from a third-party website that would otherwise violate our policies if the content were posted directly on Twitter. Tweets with labels that meet this criteria will receive a label that provides credible and authoritative information, but will not accrue a strike in accordance with our strike policy stated below. We may apply labels to Tweets that contain, for example: False or misleading information about preventative measures one can take to avoid infection, such as claims that face masks cause hypoxia or bacteria pneumonia, or do not work to reduce transmission or to protect against COVID-19. False or misleading information suggesting that unapproved treatments can be curative of COVID-19. False or misleading information regarding the safety or science behind approved or authorized COVID-19 vaccines, such as: The vaccines will cause you to be sick, spread the virus, or would be more harmful than getting COVID-19. Tweets that incite fear or misrepresent the ingredients or contents of COVID-19 vaccines. Tweets that mischaracterize the nature and science behind mRNA vaccines, and how they work. Tweets that claim vaccines alter genetic code. Tweets that misrepresent or misuse official reporting tools/statistics. False or misleading claims that people who have received the vaccine can spread or shed the vaccine (or symptoms, or immunity) to unvaccinated people. False or misleading information that misrepresent the protective effect of vaccines, to make claims contrary to health authorities. Claims that misrepresent research or statistical findings pertaining to the severity of the disease, prevalence of the virus, or effectiveness of widely accepted preventative measures, treatments, or vaccines. When a label is applied to a Tweet, this typically entails: Presenting a warning message on the Tweet Showing an additional prompt to warn people before sharing or liking the Tweet; Reducing the visibility of the Tweet on Twitter and/or preventing it from being recommended; Turning off likes, replies, and Retweets; and/or Providing a link to additional explanations or clarifications, such as in a curated landing page or relevant Twitter policies. What is not a violation of this policy? We seek to protect robust, public debate about the response to COVID-19, and recognize that the state of scientific knowledge about certain aspects of the pandemic and public response to it (including the development of vaccines) is still evolving. In the absence of other policy violations, the following are generally not in violation of this policy: Strong commentary, opinions, and/or satire, provided these do not contain false or misleading assertions of fact. Campaigns against official advisories or recommendations. People are entitled to organize and campaign around matters that are important to them, so long as they’re not advancing false and harmful misinformation in the process. Counterspeech. We allow for direct responses to misleading information which seek to undermine its impact by correcting the record, amplify credible information, and educate the wider community about the prevalence and dynamics of misleading information. Personal anecdotes or first-person accounts. We do not enforce the COVID-19 misinformation policy on reports or first-person accounts of side-effects, injury, or harm alleged to have been caused by COVID-19 vaccines, or other matters pertaining to COVID-19. Public debate about the advancement of COVID-19 science and research, including debate about research related to COVID-19, such as the effectiveness of treatments and mitigation measures, so long as the claims don’t intentionally misrepresent research findings. Who can report violations of this policy? While we have recently launched a customer report feature in some countries, we primarily enforce this policy in close coordination with trusted partners, including public health authorities, NGOs and governments, and continue to use and consult with information from those sources when reviewing content. We also leverage proactive detection using a combination of keyword heuristics and machine learning models to identify harmful forms of COVID-19 related misleading information. What happens if you violate this policy? Strike system The consequences for violating our COVID-19 misleading information policy depend on the severity and type of the violation and the account’s history of previous violations. In instances where accounts repeatedly violate this policy, we will use a strike system to determine if further enforcement actions should be applied. We believe this system further helps to reduce the spread of potentially harmful and misleading information on Twitter, particularly for high-severity violations of our rules. Repeated violations of this policy are enforced against on the basis of the number of strikes an account has accrued for violations of this policy: 1 strike: No account-level action 2 strikes: 12-hour account lock 3 strikes: 12-hour account lock 4 strikes: 7-day account lock 5 or more strikes: Permanent suspension If you believe that your account was locked or suspended in error, you can submit an appeal. Reducing Visibility of Content Related to COVID-19 Misinformation We may reduce the visibility of tweets or accounts that we believe with high confidence to be in violation of the COVID-19 misinformation policy. Limitations on the visibility of Tweets and/or accounts resulting from this framework expire automatically after a limited period of time, but may be re-applied (either manually or automatically) if we determine that the accounts have continued to violate the policy. We may reduce the visibility by: Making Tweets and Retweets from those accounts ineligible to appear in certain parts of the Twitter product (such as top Search results) Displaying Replies from the account in a lower position in conversations Excluding Tweets by the account and/or the actual account in email or in-product recommendations Permanent Suspension We may immediately permanently suspend accounts that represent the following violative behaviors: False affiliation: If the account is determined to misrepresent their affiliation, or share content that falsely represents its affiliation as a medical practitioner, public health official or agency, research institution, or that falsely suggests expertise on COVID-19 issues. Repeated Violations: If we determine that the account repeatedly violates the COVID-19 misinformation policy over a 30-day time period, or if we have determined that the account has been set up for the expressed purpose of Tweeting false or misleading information about COVID-19. Additional resources Learn more about our work to fight misleading information about COVID-19 here, and our expanded approach to COVID-19 vaccine misleading information here. Learn more about our range of enforcement options and our approach to policy development and enforcement. https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/medical-misinformation-policy ========================================================== 12 Things You Can't Post About the Coronavirus on Facebook The social media network targets misinformation surrounding COVID-19, vaccines by Michelle Crouch, AARP, February 24, 2021 En español | Facebook is cracking down on misinformation about the coronavirus and COVID-19 vaccines with sweeping new rules about what can and can't be posted on its social media platforms. The company now has an exhaustive list of more than 50 specific false claims about the coronavirus it does not allow, ranging from saying the virus is manmade to posting that it's safer to get the disease rather than the vaccine. The rules also extend to Instagram, which Facebook owns. Facebook has come under scrutiny during the pandemic for allowing conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine rhetoric to spread. "The original idea was that Facebook was a public square where you can come in and say anything you want,” says Bhaskar Chakravorti, an economist who studies digital technology use and dean of global business at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. “Now they're realizing if they're creating a health hazard, they need to put on some constraints." Research shows that falsehoods spread significantly faster than the truth on social media, and those age 65 and older are particularly vulnerable to misinformation. A 2019 study published in Science Advances found that found older adults are seven times as likely as younger people to share fake or misleading content on Facebook. The researchers hypothesized that some older adults may not have the digital media literacy and experience to recognize untruths. Rules tighten during pandemic but are tough to enforce Facebook has gradually stepped up its efforts to combat harmful content related to COVID-19. Early in the pandemic, it announced a policy to promote posts with accurate coronavirus information, to put warning labels on misinformation and to push it lower in people's feeds. At that point, the platform said it would remove false information “that could lead to imminent physical harm.” (Disclosure: News and information related to the pandemic published by AARP appears in Facebook's Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information Center.) Older adults are seven times as likely as younger people to share fake or misleading content on Facebook. In October, Facebook banned ads discouraging vaccines. Two months later, it began removing posts with vaccine misinformation that had been debunked by public health experts. Then, in early February, the tech giant took its strongest stance yet, expanding the list of false claims it would not allow, and threatening to ban users, groups or pages that repeatedly spread misinformation. In an email, Facebook declined to say how many posts, pages and groups it has taken down under its newest rules, but it noted that it removed over a million pieces of content with harmful COVID-19 misinformation from Facebook and Instagram in the fourth quarter of 2020. Chakravorti says the platform's long list of rules offers clarity both for the public and for the platform's internal army of fact-checkers about what's permissible and what crosses the line. Still, with billions of new posts every day, it's impossible to keep all misinformation off the platform, says Anna-Sophie Harling, who searches for and reports fake news as managing director for Europe's NewsGuard. "They obviously have a massive scaling issue,” Harling says. “It is still way too easy to find false vaccine and COVID misinformation online.” Harling says as long as the platform's algorithm prioritizes user engagement and viral content over credible information, some users will continue to see sensational headlines and fake news. Coronavirus, COVID-19 vaccine posts that aren't allowed In its vaccine policy statement, Facebook says it generally allows “claims that are expressing a personal anecdote or experience,” unless they promote or advocate harmful action. For some questionable content, Facebook adds a warning label and downranks it to reduce the number of people who see it. But under the new rules, it will remove misinformation that has been repeatedly debunked by independent fact-checkers. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Join today and get instant access to discounts, programs, services, and the information you need to benefit every area of your life. Here are 12 examples of the type of posts that are not allowed (the full list is at ): 1. “Sure, you can take vaccines, if you don't mind putting poison in your body.” Facebook does not allow posts that say the COVID-19 vaccines or their ingredients are toxic, poisonous, harmful or dangerous. It also prohibits any content calling to action, advocating or promoting that others not get the shot. 2. “The COVID-19 vaccines were not tested against a placebo during clinical trials.” Facebook will remove inaccurate claims about how the vaccine was developed or its ingredients. That includes claims that the vaccine contains toxic or harmful ingredients, microchips, animal products or anything not on the vaccine ingredient list. Also prohibited: claims that the vaccine was not tested, or that people died as a result of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine during clinical trials. 3. “It's safer to just get the disease rather than the vaccine.” Claims that building natural immunity is safer than vaccine-acquired immunity are barred. 4. “The COVID-19 vaccines won't protect you.” Facebook prohibits posts that say the vaccines do not provide any immunity or that they're not effective in preventing COVID-19. The authorized vaccines were found to be about 95 percent effective in clinical trials. 5. “The COVID-19 vaccine turned me into a monkey.” It's OK to post about your vaccine side effects, but Facebook does not allow claims about side effects that are “incredulous or irrational.” 6. “COVID-19 is no more dangerous than the flu.” Posts that deny the existence of COVID-19 or downplay it are banned. Any claim that the number of deaths from COVID-19 is much lower than the official figure must include additional information or context. 7. “The coronavirus is actually a bioweapon.” Facebook does not allow content that says COVID-19 is manmade, manufactured or bioengineered, or that it was created by an individual, government or country. 8. “This herbal remedy will prevent COVID-19.” You can't tout an unapproved product as a way to cure or prevent COVID-19, or say that a specific activity or treatment results in immunity. In addition, Facebook won't let you sell medical or respiratory face masks or COVID-19 test kits on the platform. 9. “Did you know COVID-19 was actually patented (or predicted) many years ago?” Facebook will delete any posts that say COVID-19 has been patented or that it was predicted, including during the “Event 201” pandemic simulation hosted by Johns Hopkins University in 2019. 10. “The COVID-19 vaccine causes infertility.” Facebook forbids anything that says the COVID-19 vaccines kill or seriously harm people. You also cannot make assertions that the vaccines cause autism, that they change people's DNA or that they infect people with the coronavirus. 11. “Face masks don't help prevent the spread of COVID-19.” Content that discourages mask wearing is banned, including posts that say face masks are connected to 5G technology, that masks can make the wearer sick or that health authorities do not recommend that healthy people wear masks. 12. “Hospitals kill patients to increase their COVID numbers and get more money!” Facebook will remove content that inaccurately represents the access, availability or eligibility of health services such as hospitals. That includes claims that a specific hospital is closed or that only certain people are allowed to receive medical care for COVID-19. Michelle Crouch is a contributing writer who has covered health and personal finance for some of the nation's top consumer publications. Her work has appeared in Reader's Digest, Real Simple, Prevention, The Washington Post and The New York Times. More on Vaccines Common vaccine myths AARP calls for improvement to vaccine sign-up systems What you need to know about the vaccine https://www.aarp.org/health/conditi...cebook-blocks-coronavirus-misinformation.html
So what you're saying, Magna, is that you think it would be wrong to impose any meaningful standards on your private enterprise during this pandemic. No slippery slope there, right?
Actually, it would be a lot of work, imo! Manually or writing new code. Maybe there's already code written for this by now? Maybe @Magna can enlist volunteers, to do the initial, internal flagging; and he could afterward do a final check? This would lighten his workload. You know anyone willing to volunteer? [EDIT] I'm not sure small websites should be held to the same standards as large ones. Nor am I sure how to determine which are large or small. I do know that with businesses, sometimes smaller companies are exempt from certain regulations, or are held to less stringent regulations, than their larger counterparts. IOW, there are no easy answers with this topic.