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Free speech isn't the same as government-controlled propaganda. The problem isn’t speech itself — it’s deception, manipulation, and coercion. Censorship isn’t the answer, because giving the government the power to decide what is "propaganda" opens the door for abuse. That same power can be used to silence whistleblowers, dissidents, and independent journalism.

The real solution is transparency (so people can see what's happening and how it's funded) and media literacy. Expose foreign propaganda, counter it with facts, and let people see the evidence for themselves. If a democracy is truly free, its people should be trusted to analyze information and make their own decisions — not have the government act as a gatekeeper of truth. Historically, when governments claim to be "protecting" the public by controlling information, it has led to more oppression, not less.

StackSats.IO 11mo ago

Ok, so who is funding the counter-propaganda for Gazans getting blown to smithereens then?

It’s all good and well to have high-minded ideas about free speech and what should and shouldn’t be.

But the tiny hats made Musk bend the knee and go kiss the wall with Ben Shapiro. Now they’re scorching my eyeballs with this horseshit and are happy to be able to pay for the privilege.

I can discern the propaganda but a cursory look at Australian Xitter tells me very few can - they’re all enraged about the latest anti-Semitic drama coming hot on the heels of the new hate speech laws which just passed and carry minimum sentences for anyone found guilty.

Perhaps the real solution is not found in democracy? Perhaps we shouldn’t be empowering halfwits susceptible to all manner of manipulation to have a say in how a country of millions of people operates? Perhaps democracy isnt the best form of governance despite what that piece of shit Churchill said?

Perhaps we should burn it all down rather than trying to hold on to a clearly failing system designed for a world long since passed?

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Discussion

Reclaim The Net 11mo ago

It’s obvious that power, money, and influence shape narratives, and that platforms like X are being pulled in multiple directions by competing interests. But if the solution is to "burn it all down," what exactly replaces it? Authoritarianism and censorship? Rule by a self-proclaimed enlightened few? If you justify censorship, you also have to make sure that those in power see things your way. Every historical attempt at "fixing democracy" by replacing it with a more "efficient" system has ended in mass repression, violence, and even more manipulation of the public. These things will always be true no matter what. There will always be a power structure.

Yes, propaganda is real, and yes, most people are easily swayed by emotion-driven narratives. But the alternative to free speech isn’t "better governance" — it’s centralized control over what is acceptable to think and say. And those same powerful forces you despise? They thrive in those conditions. The more control governments and corporations have over speech, the easier it is for them to manufacture consent without resistance. That's why decentralization is important because there is less centralized and corporate control.

If you’re worried about people being manipulated, the answer isn’t to take away their say in governance. It’s to educate them, expose them to more viewpoints, and demand accountability from those in power. Censorship doesn’t stop manipulation — it just makes it easier for the most powerful actors to dominate the narrative without challenge.

zeph 11mo ago

nostr seems like an example of both your perspectives. It is allowing participation in discussion (and maybe eventually representation) for anyone, and it is (in an admittedly small scale way) burning down the systems of narrative control

there can’t be a consensus narrative when things like nostr exist. we have the potential for narrative anarchy here.

StackSats.IO 11mo ago

>”But if the solution is to "burn it all down," what exactly replaces it? Authoritarianism and censorship?”

Ah sir, look around you right now and tell me what you see?

>”Every historical attempt at "fixing democracy" by replacing it with a more "efficient" system has ended in mass repression, violence, and even more manipulation of the public. These things will always be true no matter what. There will always be a power structure.”

This is arse backwards. World War I saw the monarchies torn down in favour of democracy, and how did that work out?

Democracy is by its nature mass repression, imposed by violence and manipulation of the public.

Just because that repression is expressed “only” against 49.9% of the populace, doesn’t make it more noble.

>”If you’re worried about people being manipulated, the answer isn’t to take away their say in governance. It’s to educate them, expose them to more viewpoints, and demand accountability from those in power.”

Again, look around you.

Everybody IS “educated”. They’ve all received mandatory schooling and are fed state-sponsored narratives from regulated media and look where that has gotten us - a heaving mass of compliant lemmings.

Your arguments don’t carry any weight when you cannot acknowledge reality as it exists and just philosophise about what ought be.

Sandor Clegane 11mo ago

You aren't going to design anything that'll work, we aren't designed for more than small mostly kinship groups, the more you fight it the more it goes wrong.

Maybe in a hundred thousand more years, maybe... until then...

Sandor Clegane 11mo ago

If we survive that long...

Sandor Clegane 11mo ago

There is a reason feudal times were more stable, that's about the max level we can properly cope with.

Sandor Clegane 11mo ago

Most if not all of us are in way over our heads.

StackSats.IO 11mo ago

Challenge accepted