If you had internet in the 90s and early 2000s, you know what the web was like before #
bigtech formed. As always, #
disinfo and fringe stuff existed like psi, crystal healing, Big Foot, Area 51, Illuminati, Time Cube. But what happened was nutjobs like Gene Ray got on TV or invited to universities for comedic purposes. A #
videogame, based on several conspiracy theories, was even made (Deus Ex). We were free to entertain the thought and compare fictional events with current ongoings, without getting blocked, banned, or algorithmically ostracized.
No one appointed themselves as fact-checkers, curators of information, or the ministries of truth like they do now. Anyone who tries to do so is as human as others and prone to natural cognitive biases no matter how many degrees they earned, how many millions they have to their net worth, or how many followers they have. If you try telling me an AI-based solution is in the works, whatever the AI will do can be reviewed by humans before publishing, retracted and/or denied by nontransparent organizations whose sole existence may only be for profit.
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fediverse #
fediblock