IS YOU TUBE ACTING AS A NANNY STATE?
Last week, You Tube did something it should have done long ago, suspended Sky News Australia’s channel for seven days for spreading misinformation about COVID19. Naturally, this brought the right-wingers out of the woodwork, crying that their freedom of speech was under attack by a foreign tech giant. But were their arguments justified?
Well, social media has, at times removed content by controversial politicians, and one of Australia’s most controversial politicians (no, not the fool who used to have a fish and chips shop, a former furniture salesperson) has been permanently banned from Facebook and, as you know, Donny has been blocked from using twitter and Facebook for violating the terms of use.
But is freedom under attack? Well, in my home state, if you accrue twelve demerit points on an open licence, over a three year period, you can either have a three month suspension or go onto a restricted provisional licence for twelve months and if you accrue one or two demerit points, you are suspended from driving for six months. So, if you accrue twelve demerit points and then another two, you can’t very well claim that the government is attacking your freedom, and just the same, if you violate social media’s terms of use, there are consequences.
Most rational people know that the crazy “cures” or preventative measures that people have proposed are dangerous, but there’s always one person who will attempt it. Just like, when it comes to autism, most of us know that CD-MMS is dangerous and would not subject ourselves or, if we have them, kids, to such things, but there’s always someone who will. It’s not the majority that needs protection, but the minority that could harm someone else.
One of the Sky News After Dark presenters was caught for drink-driving. The penalty was outrageously weak, but what people need to remember is, if you’re lucky, all you can lose from drink-driving is your licence for a period of time and have your bank balance touched (you may have to have your vehicle fitted with an immobiliser), but if you crash into an innocent person and they are killed or seriously injured, the cost could involve loss of liberty. So, it’s not just what you could do to yourself, but what you could do to others. Most parents would not give their kids unproven preventatives and remedies, but there’s always one who will.
As someone who couldn’t be paid to watch Sky News, the suspension of their channel doesn’t worry me, but maybe, just maybe, their attitudes could be changed following this action. I won’t hold my breath.