@ISIDEWITHQuestionsDomestic PolicyStarted 7yrs agoActive 2 days ago1 here now

Should the government regulate social media sites, as a means to prevent fake news and misinformation?

In January 2018 Germany passed the NetzDG law which required platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to take down perceived illegal content within 24 hours or seven days, depending on the charge, or risk a fine of €50 million ($60 million) fines. In July 2018 representatives from Facebook, Google and Twitter denied to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary committee that they censor content for political reasons. During the hearing Republican members of Congress criticized the social media companies for politically motivated practices in removing some content, a charge the…  

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Answer Overview

Response rates from 4.1k Liberal voters.

40%
Yes
60%
No
36%
Yes
47%
No
3%
Yes, there is too much fake news and misinformation on social media
7%
No, the government should not determine what is fake or real news
1%
Yes, social media companies are politically biased and need to be regulated
5%
No, social media companies are private and should not be regulated by the government

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Other Popular Answers

Unique answers from Liberal voters whose views went beyond the provided options.

 @B46V7MRfrom Alberta  answered…4wks4W

No, and the implication in the question that somehow the government and its proxies (ie. Five Eyes, NATO, UN, EU, etc.) are not the largest contributors to fake news and misinformation is truly hilarious. Thanks for the chuckle.

 @9HBRBWDfrom Ontario  answered…1yr1Y

The government should not regulate, but make an effort to correct false information. For example, how Facebook places a pop up over a post to warn of possible false information.

 @B4SRCFB from British Columbia  answered…2 days2D

Yes, through a neutral section of Government made up of dedicated fact-checkers with no political affiliation or bias. Social media companies need to be held accountable for spreading misinformation, but a lot of the misinformation is regarding the Government so the party in power should not be directly responsible for regulating them.

 @B4PC4GLfrom Quebec  answered…7 days7D

No, the government should also run their own educational content to help people learn to be critical of what information they consume

 @B4KJ9LBfrom Ontario  answered…2wks2W

At the very least they should label postings on social media sites as opinion only, or fact-checked, or something along that lines.

 @B46RH44from Quebec  answered…4wks4W

No, but we should provide more tools that allow debunking misinformation quickly like community notes with proof provided.

 @B459L86from Alberta  answered…1mo1MO

Social media and fake news/disinformation should be regulated but not by government. The social platforms need to take accountability for the detection and flagging of deepfakes, etc.

 @B44F335from Ontario  answered…1mo1MO

I believe that the government should definitely put in place regulatations and laws to protect truthful information and prevent fake news, but the government should not be in charge of telling the public what is and what is not fake news because that gives too much power to the government.

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 @Vot3rVo1ceChloefrom Ohio  submitted…4mos4MO

Trump meeting TikTok CEO as ban deadline looms

US President-elect Donald Trump is meeting the CEO of TikTok as the social media giant fights plans to have it banned in the US.Trump was due to meet Shou Zi Chew at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday, the BBC's US partner CBS News reports, citing sources familiar with the meeting.A law passed earlier this year means TikTok will be banned unless it is sold by its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, before 19 January.The company has made an emergency application to the US Supreme Court to have the ban delayed.The US wants TikTok sold or banned because of alleged links between ByteDance and the Chinese state, links that both TikTok and ByteDance have always denied.The bill introducing the law said it was intended to "protect the national security of the United States from the threat posed by foreign adversary controlled applications".Trump opposes the ban - despite supporting one during his first term - partly on the grounds that it could help Facebook, which he has accused of aiding his 2020 election loss.Trump's second term, however, won't begin until he is inaugurated on 20 January, the day after the deadline set out in the law.In its filing to the Supreme Court, submitted on Monday, TikTok asked for a "modest delay" to the enforcement of the ban to "create breathing room" for a review by the Court and to allow the incoming administration to "evaluate this matter".It described TikTok as "one of the most significant speech platforms" in the US and said the ban would do "immediate irreparable harm" to the company and its users.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…6mos6MO

Trump hits ‘nasty’ Michelle Obama at Atlanta rally

Former President Trump attacked former first lady Michelle Obama during his rally in Atlanta on Monday, calling her “nasty” after Obama lobbed attacks at the former president while stumping for Vice President Harris.“You know who’s nasty to me? Michelle Obama,” Trump told supporters in Atlanta.“I always tried to be so nice and respectful. Oh, she opened up a little bit of — a little bit of a box. She opened up a little bit of something. Oh, she was nasty. Shouldn’t be that way. That was a big mistake that she made,” he added.His remarks come after Obama criticized Trump during a Michigan rally on Saturday, at one point mentioning “Donald Trump’s gross incompetence.”“I hope that you’ll forgive me if I’m a little angry that we are indifferent to his erratic behavior, his obvious mental decline, his history as a convicted felon, a known slum lord, a predator found liable for sexual abuse, all of this while we pick apart Kamala’s answers from interviews that he doesn’t even have the courage to do, y’all,” she said in Kalamazoo, Mich.The heated rhetoric underscores the increasingly personal tone the presidential election has taken between the two campaigns roughly one week out from the election.An aggregate of national surveys compiled by The Hill/Decision Desk HQ shows Harris slightly ahead at close to 49 percent support while Trump is at 48 percent.

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 @ISIDEWITH submitted…5mos5MO

Texas Offers Trump 1,400 Acres for His Mass Deportation Dream

Officials in Texas have offered President-elect Trump a 1,400-acre ranch for his mass deportation plan.Dawn Buckingham, land commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, said in a letter to Trump Tuesday that her office was “fully prepared” to work with federal agencies that are going to be involved in Trump’s immigration plan, and specifically deportation.Buckingham offered Trump a 1,402-acre lot in Starr County. The lot is owned by the Texas General Land Office and is roughly 35 miles west of McAllen, Texas.She said the agency is ready to work with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the U.S. Border Patrol to build a facility on the land for “the processing, detention, and coordination of the largest deportation of violent criminals in the nation’s history.”“I am committed to using every available means at my disposal to gain complete operational security of our border,” Buckingham wrote.The letter and offering of land were first reported by The Texas Tribune. Last month, the state bought the land along the U.S.-Mexico border and has plans to build a wall.In the letter, Buckingham criticized her predecessor for not allowing a border wall to be built on the property. Those actions “enabled cartel members and violent criminals to sexually abuse migrant women and children on this land,” she said.On Monday, Trump signaled he would declare an immigration national emergency and use military assets to support his mass deportation plan when he returns to office.

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Active 2 days ago

 @ISIDEWITH submitted…6mos6MO

Trump’s Puerto Rico Problem Erupts in Pennsylvania: Latino Voters Fire Back

Donald Trump has a serious Puerto Rico problem — in Pennsylvania.Many Puerto Rican voters in the state are furious about racist and demeaning comments delivered at a Trump rally. Some say their dismay is giving Kamala Harris a new opening to win over the state’s Latino voters, particularly nearly half a million Pennsylvanians of Puerto Rican descent.Evidence of the backlash was immediate on Monday: A nonpartisan Puerto Rican group drafted a letter urging its members to oppose Trump on election day. Other Puerto Rican voters were lighting up WhatsApp chats with reactions to the vulgar display and raising it in morning conversations at their bodegas. Some are planning to protest Trump’s rally Tuesday in Allentown, a majority-Latino city with one of the largest Puerto Rican populations in the state.And the arena Trump is speaking at is located in the middle of the city’s Puerto Rican neighborhood.“It’s spreading like wildfire through the community,” said Norberto Dominguez, a precinct captain with the local Democratic party in Allentown, who noted his own family is half Republican and half Democratic voters.“It’s not the smartest thing to do, to insult people — a large group of voters here in a swing state — and then go to their home asking for votes,” Dominguez said.The timing couldn’t be worse for Trump. Almost a week before Election Day, he’s pushing to cut into Harris’ margins among Latinos, especially young men who are worried about the economy. But the comments from pro-Trump comedian Tony Hinchcliffe Sunday night, referring to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage,” has reverberated throughout Pennsylvania and elsewhere, prompting even the former president’s Republican allies to defend the island and denounce the comments. And with the race essentially a toss up, every vote counts — especially in Pennsylvania.“This was just like a gift from the gods,” said Victor Martinez, an Allentown resident who owns the Spanish language radio station La Mega, noting some Puerto Rican voters in the area have been on the fence about voting at all.

▲  3117 replies