An experimental vaccine that was forced on the whole world to take isn't allowed to be discussed here. Obviously, nothing to hide. Nothing new to be discovered.
I have been moderating message boards for an absurdly long time. And, from the beginning of that period to now, things have changed. My philosophy is largely unchanged; I like to be as hands-off as possible. However, while that used to involve removing spam and deleting offensive content, in this day and age it apparently requires something more.
Back when I started, social media was far more limited...or even non-existent. At the time, my belief was that most views and opinions could be shared, because it would foster substantive discussion and the merits of the individual arguments would carry the day. In essence, the marketplace of ideas would sort it out through honest, substantive debate and discussion.
Unfortunately, in the modern age, the firehose of information being pumped out by social media (and even some mainstream media outlets) has exposed an uncomfortable reality: some people are simply unable, or perhaps just unwilling, to properly differentiate between information supported by valid evidence and that information lacking any and all factual support.
There are bad actors out there who knowingly push propaganda and false information on the public in order to achieve other goals: wealth, political power, influence, etc. It is in their interest to have this information circulated far and wide, because the sad reality, as borne out by history, is that the more people are exposed to propaganda, the more likely they are to buy into it, or at least to start doubting verifiable facts and/or the basic concept of "truth."
Consequently, as a moderator, I am left with the choice of either (a) aiding and abetting the dissemination of such propaganda by allowing its open circulation on the message board, or (b) adding propaganda and falsehoods to the list of content to be moderated. Given the current situation, option b is the only real option.
I enjoy a good substantive debate. But, such a debate requires participants acting in good faith. It also requires a shared understanding of reality and an unstated agreement that the basic rules of logic apply. In the absence of these conditions, there is no common ground for discussion and the participants simply talk past each other.
Still, if I was a younger man, I might simply saddle up to take on every flawed, invalid argument and asserted bit of propaganda, but I don't have the time or the energy to devote to it, especially because the needed conditions for such a substantive debate are absent.
So, instead, propaganda and falsehood will be moderated out along with spam and offensive content. It's better for the board and the larger world.
