this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2023
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Privacy

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[–] Thorned_Rose@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

This is my issue too. Yes, there are some things that are absolutely dangerous and some things that are completely nuts. But not all conspiracy theories, for example, are crazy. Some are actual conspiracies. That aside it's a dangerous precedent to set when someone is picking and choosing what to show or not show and removing the ability of others to decide for themselves.

Many governments, organisations, companies, etc. can be above board, but they don't always stay that way. Others are dystopian in their obsession with power and control. Its not always obvious what's what when censorship and curation of results are going on.

And frankly, sometimes the 'facts' turn out to be wrong. Our reality is that we live in a world where profit and greed drives information and trends, where late stage capitalism leads to more exploitation and all of this is helped by bias, fraud, science for sale and yes, censorship.

I cannot trust a company or organiation that censors search results because quite simply it means I can't tell if they're covering over anything else and what that anything else could be.

Much like the parable of the boy who cried wolf. You're either 100% above board and trustworthy or you're not.

[–] JasSmith@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

100%. We learned this lesson centuries ago during the Enlightenment. Censorship is harmful to society. Sure, if there were some magical and neutral arbiter of information, maybe it could work if democratically controlled. By there isn’t, and these tools are not democratically controlled. Every time people or groups get too powerful, they abuse the system for their own advantage. We should always presume companies like Google do the same using the age old premise of “protecting the children.” How many violations has this adage defended over the years.