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My friend isn't worried that his mother is 'becoming' an extremist.

She has become one. Completely unhinged from reality, refuses to let him into her house because she thinks he got vaccinated against Covid (Which makes him project an aura that is harmful to the female body), is convinced that The Donald won 300 EC votes and will seize power on the 4th of July (Or whatever other nonsense Q tells her), etc, etc.

He's, understandably, not very pleased with how Facebook and Twitter enabled and encouraged this form of brainwashing. Unfortunately for him, that ship has long sailed, and now he has to live on it.

>>vkou+(OP)
But a fully vaccinated person that won't let any unvaccinated people into their house: totally fine and normal. Shun the non-believers!

>>vkou+(OP)
I thought the new date was in August?

I'll admit that I don't actually keep track because, you know, it's bullshit that's not going to happen.

Is it now July 4th because of the Declaration and Trump will declare us free from Biden being the puppet President of the corporation of the United States or something?

>>vkou+(OP)
I am convinced that answers like this are directly contributing to the problem. The moment someone gets sucked in to what is a torrent of fear and conspiracy, the people around them turn on them, disown them, call them extremists.

Let me be clear: the conspiracies they’re getting sucked into are dangerous and often bizarre. But if we jump immediately to extremism as the cause, I think we’re missing the bigger story here.

People are scared. They don’t know how to navigate the Internet safely. They don’t know how to filter out bullshit. They start watching carefully crafted videos and well written blog posts that take the truth - twist it hard - and suck them right in to an alternate reality that is easier to understand.

They freak out. They think there is an existential threat working against them. They think their friends have been sucked into the “evil” side of the conspiracy.

It’s tragic, and I wish it was not like this. But often these people - especially family - need love and support, and a nudge in another direction. Will this work? Maybe not. But immediate labeling and then ostracizing these people entrenches their views, and feeds the “extremism”.

And there are real extremists. People who have been looking for an opportunity to act, and the current climate provides it. Let’s not mix Mom’s tendency to believe in conspiracies with real extremism.

>>haswel+I2
> They don’t know how to navigate the Internet safely

And the bias of the censors doesn't make them seem any more trustworthy - if anything, it just reaffirms the conspiracy theories.

>>jaywal+X
Is it currently a libertarian position that people should not be allowed to choose who comes into their home?

I can see how it would be, actually. But I also feel like it was so recent that it would be the opposite.

>>comman+ae
Absolutely. This is the single most counterproductive move by tech companies in response to misinformation, in my opinion.