Today, there was an interesting exchange in the Dáil between an impassioned Micheal Healy-Rae and Taoiseach Simon Harris regarding the unregulated nature of #SocialMedia commentary.
Where do concerns for #FreeSpeech end, and the need to protect the mental health and safety of individuals? Frequently, individuals are targeted by falsehoods intended to damage, defame, and intimidate. How does such a poorly regulated function serve the health of democracy?
@IrishStewPodcast I see (and I've seen in the past) a few issues.
1. they only recognise the issue* when they're affected;
2. they tend to find the most convoluted and, sometimes, dangerous way to implement "a" solution;
I've seen this in the past, with proposal ranging from "static IPs to every single user" to some sort of (doomed to fail) unequivocable form of identification.
*regardless of the actual issue
@maddler @IrishStewPodcast Which is especially nuts when the simplest solution is almost always "educate the public".
There is an assumption there, that the public wishes to be educated and that the problematic actors are with some encouragement going to change their ways
Let's be clear, there are malign forces at play here deeply invested in the undermining of #democracy
Whatever one feels about Healy-Rae's politics, he has now been on the receiving end of either bots, destabilizing agents or useful idiots hopped up on #FarRight rhetoric
@IrishStewPodcast @maddler I would argue that the vast majority of the public *does* want to be educated.
There will always bad actors who revel in malice. That's why we have murder laws on the books.
But we need to make sure we aren't punishing everyone for the actions of a few (which is what most social media content regulation boils down to). Educating the good actors on how to spot the bad ones and empowering them to report/block is the key to a healthier and more productive space.
Famous people, including politicians, have always had to deal with their fair share of nuts. That's just part of the human condition, though, and not a problem they can solve by regulating away technology.
My observation is that we're losing good people from public service because of this.
I'm aware of a number of fine #Irish politicians that have called it quits because of the menance and spite that has been rained down on their heads and their family. A bad outcome in my view.
Part, but not all, of this has to do with anonymity; some of the more dreadfuls hide behind. Seems that option should be limited in Western Democracies
@IrishStewPodcast @maddler Facebook already requires real names. Do you think he receives less "menace and spite" on that platform than on others because of the lack of anonymity?
The bottom line is that politics is hard and public and it should be; if they can't handle the feedback of the public, good and bad, then they probably weren't meant for public service anyway.
