I don’t agree that you should prevent people from saying wrong things in case someone happens to read/hear and believe them, no.
If it’s wrong, counter it with warning labels explaining who thinks it’s wrong and why.
Yes, the consequence might be that at the margins, more people believe wrong things even given the warnings (though despite some pretty concerted efforts it seems pretty conclusive to me that that’s going to happen anyway, and perhaps the desire to stem the flow of misinformation has only created more conspiracy theories), but alternative of state control of what is acceptable thought / expression is far worse.
(Note that I am fine with, and would even encourage preventing companies from profiting from furthering misinformation, for example by having algorithms that promote it beyond a account’s followers or a post’s organic reach because it produces clicks and ad revenue, but that is very different.)
If it’s wrong, counter it with warning labels explaining who thinks it’s wrong and why.
Yes, the consequence might be that at the margins, more people believe wrong things even given the warnings (though despite some pretty concerted efforts it seems pretty conclusive to me that that’s going to happen anyway, and perhaps the desire to stem the flow of misinformation has only created more conspiracy theories), but alternative of state control of what is acceptable thought / expression is far worse.
(Note that I am fine with, and would even encourage preventing companies from profiting from furthering misinformation, for example by having algorithms that promote it beyond a account’s followers or a post’s organic reach because it produces clicks and ad revenue, but that is very different.)