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Comment by rbanffy | Hacker News Reader

> we must establish the limits of reasonable debate.

Not sure we need to do that for society as a whole. There's a difference between us, common people, and people with platforms, either private, or state-provided. These last two groups could be regulated, because misleading the public can have dire consequences to society.

I always suggest we should make lying or misrepresenting facts while representing a government (from school councils to president), should be considered a very serious criminal offence. Humanity cannot afford to have presidents who suggest drinking bleach may be a good idea or that COVID vaccines can turn you into an alligator. The only plausible excuse to lie for a government figure is national security, as misinformation can play a role that benefits society there.

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The bleach story has been fact checked as false multiple times but I think you make an interesting point about accountability in govt. I don't think is realistic though. What should you do about things that are fluid? Should the current administration be held accountable for the "lies" they told about the vaccines and how they would prevent you from getting COVID? They represented them as facts.

They should be careful. In most cases, a “to the best of our knowledge” should be enough to shield a well-meaning government figure. If, however, if they know, or should have known (as in “they were informed otherwise”) the punishment should be harsh.

In the bleach case, I heard the full recording. While he doesn’t say people should drink bleach, he suggests it could be useful.

Please share the link to the full recording. I have never heard it.

> I always suggest we should make lying or misrepresenting facts while representing a government (from school councils to president), should be considered a very serious criminal offence.

You mean like claiming that Trump advocated drinking bleach? That kind of lying or misrepresentation?

Was he being serious? Genuine question.

There is a commonly repeated claim that Trump advocated drinking bleach. He didn't.

He, in his customarily ambiguous way, kind of did. He was rambling that if it kills covid in walls and floors, then, maybe, if would kill it in people.

He did nothing of the sort.

He, as a layman, asked a medical expert about the possibility of some kind of injectable "disinfectant" (not bleach, specifically). While one might characterize that as naive, it's a long, long way from "Trump told people to drink bleach".

Was he ever serious?

No, because

1- i am not a president

2- he kind of did it

Obviously everything would become a matter of national security, especially 4chan-threads.

Do politicians or members of the government regularly post on 4chan?

Agreed. Public misrepresentation of facts is extremely serious. Positions such as COVID denial, creationism etc. shouldn't have public platforms.

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