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Misinformation on purpose is a predatory act. You abuse the power of knowledge and instead of physically "weak", you prey on the intellectually "weak". (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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From the perspective of knowledge equals power, intentional misinformation, no matter by whom, could be regarded as abuse of power.

More people should educate those knowing less instead of ridiculing their ignorance. (Given the "knowing" really "know", but that's another topic.)

Edit: Intentional misinformation meaning posting and spreading "fake news", willfully publishing or sharing false information through media of any kind, as organization or individual, not merely everyday lyingy which is sth different.

Edit 2: Apparently it's "misinformation" not "disinformation" sorry.

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[–] -2 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Worse still, democracy relies on informed citizens.

No it doesn't. This is literally the oldest anti-democracy argument; people are too stupid to rule themselves.

Citizens are entitled to vote because they're subject to the authority of the State. Dumb people still have to pay taxes and obey the police. A voter who chooses a candidate because Mars is in retrograde casts a ballot that is every bit as legitimate as the head of the political science department. "low information voter" is an argument for voterID, poll taxes, and literacy tests; it's voter suppression.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago

    You are missing the point. I am not talking about voter supression, I am talking about democracy leading to good outcomes for its people. There is a reason why people keep voting against their own interests and why the swampiest swamp creature won the 2016 US election with the slogan "drain the swamp", and that reason is systemic misinformation. Fox News is so far removed from the truth that they can put up the defense that "No reasonable viewer believes them" and get away with that.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 weeks ago

    There is a pretty big difference between "citizens have a responsibility to educate themselves and governments have a responsibility tk enable that" and technofascism.

    Also there are way older arguments against democracy. Like "I am more capable of physical violence than you, so why should care about your silly little ballot?", "the gods blessed me with the authority to rule", or even the classic "we don't have time to let the masses squabble- we need a unilateral decision maker who can make quick decisions".

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