Proposed new rules for c/Canada during the election season, looking for feedback - eviltoast

Elections Canada has released this resource with some common bits of false or misleading content about elections on social media: https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=dis&document=index&lang=e

We plan on pinning this resource, and we are proposing the following rules:

  • Posts or comments with inaccurate or misleading information from this list will be removed, and users are encouraged to report them
  • Repeatedly posting such content will result in a ban from the community until April 28 (at a minimum)

So far we haven’t noticed any serious issues, but we want to get ahead of anything that might come up

  • Otter@lemmy.caOPM
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    5 days ago

    No decisions have been made on that yet, and I’m happy to discuss more about it :)

    Right now, I think a rule like that might be too broad. A big part of this election is about what’s going on outside of Canada, so I can see us having to make exceptions for important news that hasn’t been covered by a local news organization yet. I’d prefer to set some basic rules that we can follow consistently, and deal with problem posts if/when they get posted. Misleading and inaccurate headlines would still be removed under this rule

    • Subscript5676@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      5 days ago

      Just to add to your comment, case in point, The Guardian sometimes covers Canadian news, and has recently published a bit more about current Canadian political events. They operate mainly in the UK but have a US office. They are independent and don’t have a corporate backer, and have been working relentlessly covering the events in the US since the new admin took power.

      Digressing a bit, I’d urge people to use tools like GroundNews to find out the political leanings and maybe even the corporate owners of news outlets that you come across, and use that to your own judgement.

      • Sunshine (she/her)@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        5 days ago

        True, as Reuters, The Guardian and The Associated Press are not pretending to be Canadian in order to push their oligarchical interests.

        • Subscript5676@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          4 days ago

          I think you’re either quoting the wrong article, or misread the article. The article talks about the new ownership of The Observer, which is a sister publication to The Guardian.

          It’s odd that this “The Standard” publication is the only one that seems to talk about the selling of the Observer and how it was handled, with some even smaller publications. That said, The Standard is majority owned by a Russian oligarch, sometimes sensationalize titles and events, and don’t always have their facts right.

    • Victor Villas@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      5 days ago

      I mean, just block things from the Sun network and it’s half the job done. No complicated debates required, no risk of cross-fire with the entire rest of the news world.