Re:YouTube to remove content that alleges widespread electio...
by nine_k on Thursday December 10, 2020 @01:07AM
(#25370355)
These are all issues of safety of one's very life and health. This is why there's a proper process in courts (even if stained by plea bargaining). FDA does not offer such a process, but its powers are way more limited.
None of these are in business of deciding truthiness of arbitrary statements or opinions, and they all operate in their well-defined narrow niches and run strict fact-checking procedures, collect proofs, etc.
Shouldn't they?
When a murder happens, a court (which I guess is a part of a government) decides which testimony is true.
When a company makes food, FDA (or some similar department) gets to decide if their nutrition facts are correct or not.
ditto for IRS, FTC, etc.
What a government doesn't decide is if a certain opinion is right or wrong. But they usually urge public entities (e.g. media) to state the truth and suppress misinformation.