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Re:Obama argues unregulated social media is a threat to demo... by giraffe_lady on Tuesday April 26, 2022 @01:08PM (#31170116)
> The phrase 'threat to democracy' in this context at this time ought to be a red flag that someone's trying to pull a fast one.

Why? I mean it's a common rhetorical move for all kinds of reasons and most of them aren't good, so just by pattern matching sure I guess. But also one of the two political parties in the US is openly contemptuous of the institutions of the state and is blatantly attempting to undermine trust in and power of our elections and legislature. You can't really both-sides that one and it's not hyperbolic to describe it as a threat to democracy.

Your last point I mean yes, certainly. But what do you expect from obama here? He's a millionaire monster war criminal like all american presidents always have been, he's not going to ask us to tear down his own house. That one is on us if we want it to be different, no one with any appreciable power under the circumstances has anything close to a reason to change it.

Re:Obama argues unregulated social media is a threat to demo... by psyc on Tuesday April 26, 2022 @01:13PM (#31170181)
Because we’re about a step away from such 1984-isms as “Free speech advocates hate our values and way of life.”
Re:Obama argues unregulated social media is a threat to demo... by pomdapi on Tuesday April 26, 2022 @01:51PM (#31170751)
We already stepped in it. A number of pundits and public figures have been tweeting (I know, ironic) sentences in substance similar to "Free speech advocates are the promoters of white supremacy and white colonialism", also said equivalent to Jan 6th supporters.

Some proeminent ones have even quit Twitter altogether with that as a message.

Re:Obama argues unregulated social media is a threat to demo... by giraffe_lady on Tuesday April 26, 2022 @01:20PM (#31170279)
I know but I'm pointing out that it's not an inherently invalid assessment of the situation. One can hold it in good faith, so what terminology should they use instead?