Consuming social media doesn't have an inescapable negative impact on other people, unlike burning leaded fuel. In the same way that eating junk food doesn't. Should we ban junk food? What else do you want to ban from others just because it has a risk profile you personally don't feel comfortable with?
> Consuming social media doesn't have an inescapable negative impact on other people
You don't think large portions an entire generation(s) getting cooked by social media doesn't have negative externalities that impact society as a whole?
I don't think anybody has the moral authority to regulate such second-order effects.
Should unhealthy food be banned because of the second-order effects of obesity? What about mandatory church / religious service? After all, I judge that atheism has negative second-order effects on the world. Where would I get this moral authority from?
> You aren’t allowed to put up booze and cigarette stores near schools.
Huh? Where? In many countries grocery and convenience stores sell both. When I was in school I could have gone across the street to get both. Everywhere I've travelled it's been even more accessible. The only place I've seen these restrictions are in very religious places, which are not analogous to morality in any way.
Lets play a little though experiment: Is it okay for me and my friend to send each other messages over the internet? Can we send images and videos? What about a group chat with all of our friends? What if our neighbourhood joins in? What if our city joins in? What if our country joins in?
Can you identify the precise step in which this becomes unallowable? Can you articulate a logical reason why it's unallowable, but the previous steps are fine?
Can you do this without it becoming a subjective question about your personal moral values?
This is the problem with laws and mandates. They can't just be based on your own subjective feelings. And as humans, we have very different thoughts and feelings on what is good and bad, what should be allowed an unallowed. Furthermore, many things are perfectly legal despite causing harm. If I reject someone's advances and they suffer negative mental consequences, have I violated their rights? They've suffered harm after all. To whom are their obligations for?
There can be claimed "fuzzy second order effects" to every single human action. Authoritarians believe they are smarter than everyone else and have the right to enforce their subjective and often incorrect opinions on everyone else. In another country, on another topic, this would be about something else - maybe religion. This does not form a solid legal basis for anything.
I posted above that social media related issues are a problem, and then a bunch of posts accused me of wanting to make it illegal. I never suggested that and I actually don't support censorship, I just wish some people I know didn't spend so much of their time bummed out about social media.
I'm not suggesting that it should be illegal, I'm just seeing this monetization of bad vibes and wondering how we can have less bad vibes. Pump the brakes a little.
Nothing is inherently illegal. Laws are created in response to an undesireable outcome - murder wasn't illegal until it was made illegal.
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Consuming social media doesn't have an inescapable negative impact on other people, unlike burning leaded fuel. In the same way that eating junk food doesn't. Should we ban junk food? What else do you want to ban from others just because it has a risk profile you personally don't feel comfortable with?
> Consuming social media doesn't have an inescapable negative impact on other people
You don't think large portions an entire generation(s) getting cooked by social media doesn't have negative externalities that impact society as a whole?
I don't think anybody has the moral authority to regulate such second-order effects.
Should unhealthy food be banned because of the second-order effects of obesity? What about mandatory church / religious service? After all, I judge that atheism has negative second-order effects on the world. Where would I get this moral authority from?
For fuzzy second order effects you have fuzzy second order impacting laws.
You increase disclosure norms, you increase monitoring and you ensure marketing and packaging norms that disclose the potential risks.
You aren’t allowed to put up booze and cigarette stores near schools. These are not new problems that humanity has never encountered before.
> You aren’t allowed to put up booze and cigarette stores near schools.
Huh? Where? In many countries grocery and convenience stores sell both. When I was in school I could have gone across the street to get both. Everywhere I've travelled it's been even more accessible. The only place I've seen these restrictions are in very religious places, which are not analogous to morality in any way.
Lets play a little though experiment: Is it okay for me and my friend to send each other messages over the internet? Can we send images and videos? What about a group chat with all of our friends? What if our neighbourhood joins in? What if our city joins in? What if our country joins in?
Can you identify the precise step in which this becomes unallowable? Can you articulate a logical reason why it's unallowable, but the previous steps are fine?
Can you do this without it becoming a subjective question about your personal moral values?
This is the problem with laws and mandates. They can't just be based on your own subjective feelings. And as humans, we have very different thoughts and feelings on what is good and bad, what should be allowed an unallowed. Furthermore, many things are perfectly legal despite causing harm. If I reject someone's advances and they suffer negative mental consequences, have I violated their rights? They've suffered harm after all. To whom are their obligations for?
There can be claimed "fuzzy second order effects" to every single human action. Authoritarians believe they are smarter than everyone else and have the right to enforce their subjective and often incorrect opinions on everyone else. In another country, on another topic, this would be about something else - maybe religion. This does not form a solid legal basis for anything.
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I wonder where folks like this came from, and at what point did people who associate themselves with hacker culture decide that censorship is great.
The OG hackers thought of censorship as network damage that needed to be routed around.
People who support censorship always think of themselves as smarter than the rest. Dunning-Krueger however would suggest something different.
I posted above that social media related issues are a problem, and then a bunch of posts accused me of wanting to make it illegal. I never suggested that and I actually don't support censorship, I just wish some people I know didn't spend so much of their time bummed out about social media.
> >"What do we do about it?"
> nothing. if it isn't illegal, it isn't illegal.
Are you suggesting that because something isn't illegal, it shouldn't be illegal?
Are you perhaps a representative of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory?
Please don't post shallow dismissals or flamebait on HN. The guidelines make it clear we're trying for something better here.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
I'm not suggesting that it should be illegal, I'm just seeing this monetization of bad vibes and wondering how we can have less bad vibes. Pump the brakes a little.
Things that are not illegal can and should be made illegal if need be.
Many things were not illegal before they became illegal.
okay. go ahead and make "conspiracy theories" illegal.