No, TikTok Is Not ‘Programmable Fentanyl.’ Stop It
from the that's-not-how-any-of-this-works dept
What do Fentanyl and TikTok have in common? Well, the real answer is absolutely nothing. Nothing at all. But, if you want to push a nonsense moral panic, apparently, you compare the two.
While it’s unclear exactly where Congress currently stands on the push to ban TikTok in the US (or, at the very least, force ByteDance to divest its ownership stake in the company), it appears that some are still pushing for it. Strongly opinionated Venture Capitalist Vinod Khosla took to the pages of the Financial Times (while insisting he has no financial dog in this fight), to claim that the US must ban TikTok because it’s “programmable fentanyl.”
Few appreciate that TikTok is not available in China. Instead, Chinese consumers use Douyin, the sister app that features educational and patriotic videos, and is limited to 40 minutes per day of total usage. Spinach for Chinese kids, fentanyl — another chief export of China’s — for ours. Worse still, TikTok is a programmable fentanyl whose effects are under the control of the CCP.
First of all, it’s only true that “few appreciate” that point if you haven’t been paying any attention at all. The point that inside China people use Douyin rather than TikTok is mentioned in basically every discussion of the app. There are tons of articles in the media about it. It’s been mentioned in congressional hearings. So, if people don’t know about it, that means they haven’t been paying attention and their opinion is already not well informed.
But, more importantly, it’s a meaningless point. There are lots of apps that aren’t available in China because China is an authoritarian country that deliberately censors much of the internet that its citizens can access. While there are all sorts of accusations (including above) that the Chinese Communist Party puts its fingers on the moderation scales of TikTok, one indication that TikTok is a lot more free and open than Douyin is the very fact that China doesn’t allow TikTok inside the country.
I’d already pointed out if China is using TikTok to influence American opinions, it’s doing a terrible job of it, as American opinions towards China are at record lows.
And, just as an experiment, I just went on TikTok and searched for “uyghur.” I found tons of videos about China’s attempted genocide of the Uyghur people, many with hundreds of thousands of views. Even the autocomplete search suggestion shows “uyghur genocide” as the second option after I type Uyghur. I can also find lots of videos about Tiananmen Square. If China is really trying to suppress speech on TikTok, it’s not doing a great job.
But, even more to the point, this whole idea is based on the false belief that people are simply sheep that are easily brainwashed by an algorithm and the content they see. And… that’s not true. Human beings are not puppets. Yes, content can have some level of influence on the margins, but there’s little to no evidence supporting the idea that the internet, as a whole, is a vast brainwashing machine.
Of course, the internet and tech industries have a strong incentive to tell you that the internet is uniquely powerful in brainwashing you, because that makes it seem like it’s super worthwhile to buy ads or use those tools yourself to brainwash others. But, most of that is nonsense.
In addition, the claim of “programmable fentanyl” is even dumber. It’s yet another attempt to pretend that speech is somehow the equivalent of something you actually put into your body. As we’ve discussed before, speech online is not lead paint or cigarettes or chocolate or fentanyl.
It’s speech.
And sometimes there’s speech we disagree with. And sometimes that speech we disagree with is persuasive. But in a free society, we deal with that. We respond to it. We explain why it’s wrong and we seek to persuade in the other direction.
We do not take the Chinese approach and shut down the speech. But that is exactly what people pushing a TikTok ban are doing. They’re so convinced (or they so want to convince us) of the power of online speech that they are giving way more power to speech than it actually has.
They’re treating it as if it’s some sort of mind-altering drug, rather than recognizing that it’s just another form of communication. And, in doing so, they’re actually giving more power to the Chinese government by suggesting that its speech is so powerful that it must be banned.
A free society has dealt with bad and misleading speech in the past. It is possible. Speech is not all powerful. It is not “brainwashing,” it is not like a drug. Sometimes it’s persuasive when we’d prefer it not be, but that doesn’t mean we need to ban it. Just counter it.
Filed Under: brainwashing, china, fentanyl, free speech, mind control, social media, tiktok ban, vinod khosla
Companies: bytedance, tiktok
Comments on “No, TikTok Is Not ‘Programmable Fentanyl.’ Stop It”
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it.
I only recently overcame my addiction to TikTok, so it’s frustrating to see people downplay the danger of this illicit Chinese techno-drug.
I wish I’d never begun dabbling in that world, and I hope you’ll reconsider the contempt and derision you seem to direct at people trying to protect other people from the ills of social media organized and curated by the CCP.
Re:
But I’m sure Instagram, youtube being American make the addiction okay.
Re:
lmao
Re:
These people aren’t trying to protect people; they don’t care about them.
They just want to make money from Tiktok’s competitors.
Re:
That’s nothing, I lost everything when I started injecting myspace into my taint.
Re: Re:
We had two bags of instagram, seventy-five pellets of twitter, five sheets of high-powered twitch acid, a saltshaker half-full of reddit, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored tweets, skeets, grams, threads… Also, a quart of youtube, a quart of wechat, a case of snaps, a pint of raw pinterest, and two dozen truths. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious social media collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worried me was the pinterest. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of a pinterest binge, and I knew we’d get into that rotten stuff pretty soon.
Re: Re:
Try injecting Playfire into your balls. Made me a eunuch at the age of 11.
Re:
It is unlikely I will reconsider the contempt and derision I’m directing at trolls like you.
Re:
Let me know when there’s evidence of such danger. Random anecdotes that cannot be verified are not good enough. I’m talking about statistical data.
Also, do you have evidence that TikTok is curated by the CCP? I’m pretty sure that we wouldn’t be able to find all these anti-China videos on the platform if that was the case.
Re:
I remember the people who tried to “protect” other people from books, alcohol, video games, chocolate, cannabis, and other little trivialities that the first group cannot shut the fuck up about how many pearls they clutch at the thought of someone else having a little bit of fun or entertainment.
I will continue to heap mockery and derision on boring ass Karens like you until you get it through your thick skull. Try to take our toys away, we’ll make you fucking regret it.
“While it’s unclear exactly where Congress currently stands on the push to ban TikTok in the US (or, at the very least, force ByteDance to divest its ownership stake in the company)”.
It’s not that unclear, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (the bill that passed as a standalone measure in March that would force TikTok to divest in approximately six months or be banned) is apparently being worked into the foreign aid package being voted on this weekend by the House. Basically, they’re trying to make sure that it gets codified by Congress, rather than let the Senate debate it on its own merits.
It’s referenced in passing here: https://www.politicususa.com/2024/04/17/mike-johnson-says-house-will-vote-on-ukraine-aid-on-saturday.html/amp
That means by using the foreign aid process to advance it (barring that it’s somehow stripped from the final bill in the Senate), this constitutionally problematic bill would become law, resulting in our tax dollars being wasted on another lawsuit over a likely unconstitutional TikTok/internet bill that may also allow the government to block other popular foreign-owned apps (Shein, AliExpress, Temu, etc.) and give the executive branch authority it shouldn’t have regarding what people can access online, which undercuts Biden’s pro-democracy messaging (bc it’s not exactly the right message to say you stand for freedom, when you advocated for a law that would allow the government to strip the people’s right to access internet platforms of their choosing), and risks angering young voters and possibly helping Trump win in November by adding to potential disillusionment over the government ignoring their legislative concerns (on top of Gaza, the economy and the environment/climate change) that could push enough to stay home or vote third-party, splintering the youth vote.
It would also incentivize autocratic governments and backsliding democracies to undermine internet freedom, ironically giving China reason to point out the U.S. contradicting itself on the matter after years of criticizing them for blocking websites. Content creators and (as a another recent TD article pointed out in the case of India after it banned TikTok in 2020) small business would also lose income: creators from income they make posting content (IG Reels no longer compensates creators, and it’d be difficult to rebuild their communities on other platforms), and smaller businesses through customer acquisition they may not as easily replicate on other social platforms.
Re:
I’m strongly leaning towards staying home at this point. If the democrats want to act like china why the hell should I listen to them about how horrible the republicans are about stripping away my rights?
Re: Re:
You don’t need to listen to them when Republicans are screaming it at you themselves.
Voting in the side that isn’t threatening the entire (small-d) democratic system means you’ll get an opportunity to vote them out later. Voting in the other side might mean you’ll never get that opportunity again.
Re: Re:
Because the other option is to be buried in an unmarked mass grave after you are shot in your own house for not being a MAGAt.
Even me, the outaider, knows this much.
Re: Re:
Mate, “I’m going to guillotine off own balls while you keep telling me that gliding my nutsack over a live chainsaw is dangerous” is not even a thousandth of the mic-dropping flex you think it is…
Training your brain
I am a college educator who studies social media systems and other scholarly stuff related to communication. I teach several classes about it. The critique here on the basis of free speech and persuasion is a legitimate argument. I, too, do not believe that the majority of consumers are so gullible (by now) that they simply inject every message into their brains as if it were true. They don’t, save for, perhaps TruthSocial members (I speculate). Congress is complaining about the wrong thing, IMO.
But here is where I part ways with the issues of caution. TikTok, like YouTube Shorts and the Facebook shorts equivalent, are “attention crack” that one simply cannot put down easily once immersed. The pattern of engagement with these types of media affects the brain much like practicing mindfulness, but to the opposite effect. Here is what the most recent research indicates:
1 – Attention span and focus: Studies indicate that frequent consumption of short-form video content may contribute to shorter attention spans and more fragmented focus. The rapid pace and constant novelty of these videos may condition the brain to expect constant stimulation and have difficulty maintaining concentration on longer-form content. Ask any school teacher.
2 – Dopamine response: The video recommendation algorithms on these platforms are designed to keep users engaged by providing an endless scroll of content tailored to their interests. This can trigger dopamine release in the brain’s reward pathways, potentially leading to addictive-like behaviors and making it harder to disengage.
3 – Cognitive overload: The fast-paced, visually stimulating nature of short-form content may contribute to cognitive overload, making it more difficult for the brain to process information and retain memories effectively.
4 – Reduced reflection and deep thinking: The bite-sized, often superficial nature of short-form content may discourage the type of deep, reflective thinking associated with longer-form content like books or in-depth articles.
None of these issues are justification for banning TikTok, et al. Still, any opportunity to reduce the potential negative impact of these systems on teens and pre-teens I view as a positive protective factor for the well-being of minors – the same as if we were talking about vaping. If Congress succeeds, it will be a nominal strike against free speech, which would be bad. But let’s not pretend that these systems are benign, either.
Re:
“Still, any opportunity to reduce the potential negative impact of these systems on teens and pre-teens I view as a positive protective factor for the well-being of minors – the same as if we were talking about vaping.”
Except we’re not doing that. We’re freaking out about one specific app for political reasons and then coming up with bullshit justifications to for it.
It’s like if congress was worried about teens vaping, so they banned Juul and left every other vape company alone.
Re:
This shit is just ridiculous. By your logic reading a good book is addictive because I get a dopamine response every time I turn the page. Libraries are like crack!
Lack of focus in children is significantly more likely to be from things that are well studied and substantiated than the tenuous link between social media and focus.
Such as:
*Forcing them to get up much too early. No studies support the times we wake children up is good for their cognitive development)
*Increase in childhood food scarcity because we’re actually a third world nation if you’re not in the top 30%.
*Under funding for adequate teaching materials, staff, education, etc. look at Idaho, they can’t even keep their schools standing.
*the ever increasing extracurricular activity load placed on children before and after school. A f
*the anxiety coming from the fact that we’re leaving them with no viable economic future, limited access to education, healthcare, food, and jobs in a world that will see massive climate driven extreme weather event interrupting life.
*under-treatment of health conditions because only in the USA do we deliver third world outcomes for first world prices.
Solve those problems first, and see if there’s actually anything there left to solve with social media. Blaming the latest popular activity for the downfall of the next generation using specious logic and subjective measurements while ignoring the actual, measurable, objective causes is a well trodden path. We’ve been here before. Last time, it was violent video games. Before that, it was rap. Before that it was rock. And before that it was dancing.
My oldest uses things like youtube/tiktok to mange his ADD. He’ll happy listen to videos while building legos. It gives him enough stimulation that he can focus for hours and hours. My youngest spends hours locating experts on any given subject and learning from them, because that’s what he’s driven to do as he’s on the spectrum. Last month it was the concept of infinity.
Re: Re:
What scares people in position of power and authority is the idea that subordinates, employees, underlings or children may actually have a life outside of whatever orders they’re currently following. They might develop interests that don’t immediately contribute to economic output or a college Ph.D thesis. Why, left to their own devices (sometimes literally), these munchkins might even get the idea that there’s more to life than drudgery and servitude. They might start disagreeing with figures of authority. Scandalous! Outrageous! Why, back in my day…
Have adults considered why the only thing kids these days do during downtime is scroll? What the fuck else is there time left for? If they’re not doing academic work or bonus credit projects or extracurricular activities and SkillShares, what time do you think kids have left? Time to play catch and throw Frisbees? Embark on lengthy Minecraft projects? Hell no, those activities aren’t even allowed in some families! What else is there to do on mobile phones but stream passive entertainment?
The biggest tragedy of children these days is that they’re brought up expected to be adults, while adults running the world do everything they can to act like goddamn children.
Re: Re: Re:
Corollary: Where are they supposed to do things with friends other than each other’s houses? “Third spaces” in general are disappearing, but moreso for teenagers because adults keep shutting down (or shuffling teens away from) places that said teens could hang out at without getting into any real trouble.
Re: Re: Re:
That’s even without going into the whole trope about social media promoting high stress and low self-esteem, particularly among girls with body issues. Because apparently before social media, it was unheard of for children to compare who had the newest toys or the prettiest appearance. And of course parents NEVER ever compared how their children were performing academically with their peers, and certainly NEVER drove their confidence and self-esteem into the ground. Nah, it’s got to be the thing that’s making daughters wiggle their hips like they’re on OnlyFans…
I interpreter that to mean that for Khosla, speech may be anathema to what ever is filling the space in their skull.
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it.
Mentally Crippled
The opinion towards China doesn’t matter. The point of both fentanyl and tiktok is to cause the user to lose their mind, and then self-destruct. It doesn’t matter who you dislike when you’re dying from an overdose.
Re:
… are, are you admitting to using at least one of: tiktok, fentanyl? Or are you claiming to have found a 3rd (or more) source of that effect?
Re:
When was the last time somebody died of a social media overdose?
Re: Re:
I heard from a friend’s friend that they had a brother that was so addicted to social media he died. It took the paramedics ten minutes to dislodge the smartphone he had snorted, but he had already perished at that point.
Re: Re: Re:
My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with the girl who saw Koby pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it’s pretty serious.
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it.
Re: Re:
I remember that Tide Pod challenge from a few years back. That’s what a fatal social media overdose looks like.
Re: Re: Re:
You’re such a gullible fuck.
No one died from “The Tide Pod Challenge”, those that died from investing tide pods are under six, or have extreme dementia with diminished faculties.
Also, are you completely unaware that kids have been daring each other to do incredibly dumb and dangerous shit since God invented dirt? Did you have no friends and interact with no other children while growing up?
Is that why you’re socially stunted?
Re: Re: Re:
Those two parts of your memory do not line up.
Re: Re: Re:
No, Koby.
A “fatal social media overdose” looks like a mass shooting.
And usually the shooter CAUSES these fatalities.
And I will also add the following context: and also if they keep fucking believing in a shitty, anti-humanity worldview, like the one you so ardently defend.
Re: Re: Re:
You mean the myth of the tide pod challenge.
It was a joke. Some people pretended to to get idiots like you to fall for it. Kids are smarter than you are. They knew it was bullshit.
Re: Re: Re:2
Worse still, it’s not even up to date.
I imagine Koby’s going to lose his mind when he finds out about the Nyquil chicken challenge that doesn’t exist.
Re: Re: Re:3
So you think he’s going to find one in the interim… or grow one?
Re:
Those hallucinations suggest that it’s not tiktok that’s your drug of choice.
Re:
Well then right wingers should learn to not be so prone to addiction problems
Re:
“cause the user to lose their mind, and then self-destruct.”
What’s your excuse bro?
Re:
Where is there evidence that the point of TikTok is to cause people to lose their minds and then self-destruct? Where are the people dying of TikTok overdose?
Also, there were two points being made. One was about the China connection, the other was the comparison to Fentanyl. The article doesn’t claim that the opinion on China is part of the comparison.
Re:
In what world can you write that sentence in a seriousness? Do you really believe this shit, or do you realize it’s completely bullshit and just think we’re morons?
Re: Re:
Koby is a professional contrarian. You could tell him “the sky is blue” and explain to him the scientific reason why the sky is blue, and he’d still find a way to disagree with that actual fact.
Re: Re: Re:
That’s too easy to prove, try telling him the earth is round and watch him go bat shit crazy.
It’s boggles my mind that someone can describe Douyin as being full of “educational and patriotic videos” and not immediately realize that it’s government propaganda.
Like, do they also think that the reason China heavily censors its internet is to provide citizens with a better, more curated online experience?
Re:
And…
Douyin is marketed in certain parts of Asia as… an app for camgirls.
Don’t ask why.
I know fentanyl isn’t programmable fentanyl because it doesn’t make cops magically keel over.
Re:
Damn it! TIKTOK isn’t programmable fentanyl.
Re: Re:
The need for an edit feature is strong! 😉
Re: Re:
But… it works as is.
Dirt is on the hands of both US and Chinese social media companies because they both sell/give data to the government (probably multiple governments in US social media companies case), and/or sell user data to other companies.
In this case, I approve of heavy regulation of all social media companies, both foreign and domestic. And, here’s a fix, require all social media platforms cut reoccurring checks to all of their users – since the companies are Selling The Data anyway.
“While it’s unclear exactly where Congress currently stands on the push to ban TikTok in the US (or, at the very least, force ByteDance to divest its ownership stake in the company)”.
It’s not that unclear, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (the bill that passed as a standalone measure in March that would force TikTok to divest in approximately six months or be banned) is apparently being worked into the foreign aid package being voted on this weekend by the House. Basically, they’re trying to make sure that it gets codified by Congress, rather than let the Senate debate it on its own merits.
That means by using the foreign aid process to advance it (barring that it’s somehow stripped from the final bill in the Senate), this constitutionally problematic bill would become law, resulting in our tax dollars being wasted on another lawsuit over a likely unconstitutional TikTok/internet bill that may also allow the government to block other popular foreign-owned apps (Shein, AliExpress, Temu, etc.) and give the executive branch authority it shouldn’t have regarding what people can access online, which undercuts Biden’s pro-democracy messaging (bc it’s not exactly the right message to say you stand for freedom, when you advocated for a law that would allow the government to strip the people’s right to access internet platforms of their choosing), and risks angering young voters and possibly helping Trump win in November by adding to potential disillusionment over the government ignoring their legislative concerns (on top of Gaza, the economy and the environment/climate change) that could push enough to stay home or vote third-party, splintering the youth vote. It would also incentivize autocratic governments and backsliding democracies to undermine internet freedom, ironically giving China reason to point out the U.S. contradicting itself on the matter after years of criticizing them for blocking websites. Content creators and (as a another recent TD article pointed out in the case of India after it banned TikTok in 2020) small business would also lose income: creators from income they make posting content (IG Reels no longer compensates creators, and it’d be difficult to rebuild their communities on other platforms), and smaller businesses through customer acquisition they may not as easily replicate on other social platforms.
Problem is, according to a March report from The Intercept, intelligence officials in multiple hearings and other public statements have stressed that the concerns regarding TikTok are hypothetical (and in some cases, indistinguishable from the risks associated with other social media platforms in terms of data collection and foreign influence risks), which makes the whole thing look like one of the reasons why Montana’s TikTok ban attempt failed, that it looks like an effort to stick it to China economically (aided and abetted by the fact that many of our politicians are tech inept or hold sinophobic beliefs that they can be led in the same way as those with financial conflicts of interest to TikTok’s rivals), not based on a credible threat where less restrictive measures aren’t applicable.
America the land of the free ?
banning tik tok will only encourage the eu and russia to ban More american apps, millions of americans use tik tok its got videos on sport,tv, current affairs, politicans use it to reach young voters ,its popular because its easy to use and shows videos that you might like according to what videos you watch previously.
you could make a case for it being a great app to view anti china content
Spinach to the Chinese
I want to know how the author thinks it’s spinach to the Chinese. Does he mean it’s a leafy green vegetable and all vegetables are good for people, which is a good thing?
Or does he mean in the Popeye sense, where eating a little spinach can give you super powers, which is complete hogwash?
If he means the latter, then his argument is even more weak.
Re:
Ask the guy Mike was quoting. Or do you not understand how quotes work? Or did you snort too much WhatsApp?
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it.
One YouTube video I was listening to warned that the tilktok ban might go beyond that and I think her coujd bebe right
I think that Protectunr Internet Communication And Comnerce Act (PICCA) that has been spoken of in prophecy for years is coming
Basef in prophecy this law will combine the worst of acta, sopa, tpp and the CDA in one bill
That is why I am planning on getting a place in Mexico where I can parks a computer
PICCA will not be enforceable on a home computer in Mexico
Until an ready to buy I found a place in ensenada for rent at about 950 USD a month where 8 gig internet is available
No home isp in the USA offers 8 gigs bandwidth
Contrary to what dime think, a home computer in Mexico is not subject to us jurisdiction
This place is convenient to one freeway and only about 90 minutes from the border where I can drive there once or twice a month to do maintenance on the machine and reboot
Re:
You can’t afford the rent on a refrigerator box next to an LA freeway on ramp, let alone 1000/month rent for a place to park a computer.
This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it.
Re: Re:
I turbs out there is nothing I can find with a static IP.
I want something where I can drive there once or twice a month and do maintenance on the machine
There are no data centers in Baja California I can find
I refuse to let the US government tell me what sites I can view and having an offshore PC is the best solution
Tijuana, ensenada, rosarito, and San Felipe do.not have any data centers I can find
I will need a static IP if I want to use it to bypass PICCA when it eventually does pass
Re: Re: Re:
We get it, you think you can be untouchable and untraceable.
You can’t and won’t, but you keep believing that fantasy if it makes you feel better.
Re: Re: Re:2
A computerb
Re: Re: Re:2
A computer parked outside the country is not subject to US jurisdiction
I just can’t find any data centers in Baja California
As long as the data center itself is not American owned the us has no jurisdiction
That is why the hostdime colo in Guadalajara is out as it is American owned
As long as the ISP or colo is not American owned that cannot be subjected to American laws
Re: Re: Re:
You wouldn’t need a static IP, dipshit. DynDNS is a thing.
Re: Re: Re:2
Dyndns is American owned
For my purposes American owned facilities are a non starter.
I will have to find a colo in Mexico other than hostdime
Re: Re: Re:3
Sweet fuck, do you need me to draw it out? There are other solutions… including roll your own, that perform the same thing.
Fuck. For some who’s so ‘clever’, you’re really fucking ignorant.
Re: Re: Re:4
Having static IP is part of roll your own.
I am getting ready for PICCA, which is what think the site blocking bill will be
I read prophecy one that predicted this and the Protecting Internet Communication And Commetce Act (PICCA) will be acts, tpp, sopa, and CDA rolled into one bill, the worst censorship bill in history
What this prophet dud not see at the time is that PICCA cannot be enforced outside the United States if you roll your own, which is the purpose of having either a home in Mexico or using a colo there other than HostDime.
I refuse to let the government tell me what I can look at on the Internet
PICCA will be so broad that those in the USA will have to do that if they want an uncensored Net
Before travelling to the USA you should consider setting this up at home before travel so you are censored under PICCA
if you are planning trip to the USA you highly advised to do this before you go
Just set up your machine at home with vpn software before travel.
The closest thing i can think of as being a metaphorical fentanyl (or fentanol, as most of the idiots constantly mentioning it would have it), are the contemporary fiduciary rules and the interpretation thereof by hedge funds and other Wall Street drivers. (Really more like crack as they both came out of the 80s.)
In a nation where a member of Congress can offer an amendment to add space lasers to secure the border & not end up on a psych hold this makes sense.
Sadly it appears the lies can just get bigger and bigger as some people insist it has to be true & who cares if it ruins the country… they are winning!
Putting tiktok on my phone to keep the cops away
Projection?
… I’m starting to think that the folks in charge are just projecting their own insecurities brought on by years of just believing whatever entity was waving money in their face.
“But, even more to the point, this whole idea is based on the false belief that people are simply sheep that are easily brainwashed by an algorithm and the content they see. And… that’s not true. Human beings are not puppets. Yes, content can have some level of influence on the margins, but there’s little to no evidence supporting the idea that the internet, as a whole, is a vast brainwashing machine.”
No need to worry about disinformation or fake news then.