When I say bad state actors I was referring to the intelligence community’s consensus of how Russia was using Facebook and so forth to swing the 2016 election. That is why I used “for example”. The US intelligence community has testified in congress that did and that they are still at it. I don’t know what is on Hunters laptop but those with the skills to find out had it a full year earlier. If there was a story they had plenty of time to uncover it and report it. I’ve said that repeatedly now. But the timing of Trump and team hyping it up just weeks before the vote is very suspicious.
Facebook and Twitter are service providers. They have every right to remove content that violates their policies on what is acceptable because anyone who signed up agreed to their Terms & Conditions. That is that little “I accept” box upon registration that I talked about months ago in a separate thread. Now, Trump just filed a lawsuit against them for banning him so the courts will ultimately decide the final position on whether they have the right to do so. I’m merely taking the position that they do have that right.
With the dissolution of the Fairness Doctrine (something the right wanted and doesn’t want to reintroduce btw), each end of the political spectrum can choose what they want to publish or not publish. They no longer have to be balanced which is what the Fairness Doctrine required (every side must be presented). I see the non-Fox news outlets of the US exercising their right all the time. Breitbart, Info Wars etc. could not exist if the Fairness Doctrine was still in place. I think the Fairness doctrine should be put back and each outlet needs to be more balanced in their reporting. But this was thrown away long ago and polarization has taken root as a result and here we are today. Without that Fairness Doctrine, where each side has their freedoms to publish or not publish what they want then no, on this playing field, I see no malfeasance at all. Malfeasance is a wrong doing but I’m merely highlighting the current playing field and the current playing field says anything goes. So, if anything goes, there can be no wrongdoing unless harm was created and a lawsuit follows. If harm was done, why didn’t Trump and arudy sue the media outlets then claiming they cost him the election for not running the Hunter laptop story? They were suing everyone about the election results, why not the media then and there? You or I can hate the game but still recognize the rules of the game we have today. It is merely the product of removing the Fairness Doctrine. One cannot have it both ways where one side can choose to give opinions and publish anything they want and then complain that the other side is not allowed the same freedoms which in this case means it is their choice to not publish the same stories the other side is pushing. Bad actors or good actors, media are no longer required to persue any story at all. And yes, I consider Info Wars and similar outlets and personalities to be bad actors. I do so because their defences against lawsuits are often “no reasonable person would believe what I was stating” while at the same time they know people are indeed lapping it up and by doing so they make millions of those rubes. Good actors wouldn’t push bullshit to begin with and it’s that simple. But, left or right, each side only has to pick and chose to publish the ones they want and that is their right, like it or not.
Now, if you believe those media outlets don’t have the right to pick and choose what to report on, supposedly in the noble pursuit of the “truth”, then what is the standard for Newsmax, Info Wars, etc.? Are they not also supposed to report the “truth”? What recourse is there against them if they report lies? Because unless harm was done and a libel/slander lawsuit brought, such as in the voting machine suit, I don’t see any. And without any, they are free and clear to push whatever bullshit they want which I’ll say it again, whenever they find themselves on the receiving end of a lawsuit, they use as their defence that they peddle bullshit and no one could reasonably believe that bullshit so the case should be dropped. That is a disgusting defence in my mind and is like saying I took advantage of someone and stole their money but I’m not guilty because the victim should have spotted me doing it before I did it or while I was doing it.