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A comment on Three Companies Impersonated Millions to Influence Internet Policy. Parent comment

Re:Three Companies Impersonated Millions to Influence Intern... by hulitu on Sunday May 14, 2023 @04:04AM (#35936252)
> But its also state and local officials using state law to try to get any punishment for what is a fairly serious federal crime that, for some reason, the federal government has elected not to prosecute.

Prosecuting that would have lead to a dangerous precedent for a lot of companies and government agencies involved in propaganda.

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Re:Three Companies Impersonated Millions to Influence Intern... by gpvos on Sunday May 14, 2023 @04:09AM (#35936281)
Not prosecuting it is a dangerous precedent. Especially now we have AI text generation, such actions should lead any company to be sued into bankruptcy, and jail time for its leaders.
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Re:Three Companies Impersonated Millions to Influence Intern... by jackmott42 on Sunday May 14, 2023 @10:18AM (#35938188)
Good, I hope any such companies and agencies are eliminated and their leaders jailed.
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Re:Three Companies Impersonated Millions to Influence Intern... by dragonwriter on Sunday May 14, 2023 @12:49PM (#35939295)
> Prosecuting that would have lead to a dangerous precedent for a lot of companies and government agencies involved in propaganda.

Propaganda (a.k.a , advertising/marketing) is broadly legal (though some specific methods and certain actors participating in certain kinds are restricted), deliberately making materially false statements to the government in the course of, and in order to influence, a government proceeding is prohibited. Firmly drawing the line between those things is a good thing.

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