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Obama Warns Against Irresponsible Social Media Use (bbc.com)

In his first interview since leaving the White House in January, former President Barack Obama spoke about the dangers of irresponsible use of social media. From a report on BBC: He warned that such actions were distorting people's understanding of complex issues, and spreading misinformation. "All of us in leadership have to find ways in which we can recreate a common space on the internet," he said. The former president expressed concern about a future where facts are discarded and people only read and listen to things that reinforce their own views. "One of the dangers of the internet is that people can have entirely different realities. They can be cocooned in information that reinforces their current biases. The question has to do with how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesn't lead to a Balkanisation of society and allows ways of finding common ground," he said.

17 of 360 comments (clear)

  1. Said... by BlueStrat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...One of the most divisive Presidents in US history famous for his identity politics and class-warfare and attacks on political/ideological opponents using agencies of the Federal government like the IRS.

    Strat

    --
    Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    1. Re:Said... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      " famous for his identity politics and class-warfare and attacks on political/ideological opponents"


      In your head, maybe

    2. Re:Said... by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Obama would quickly take the side of a black person on any white vs black incident, way before any facts came out. He sure as hell created division.

      [citation needed]

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re: Said... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, I got to keep my doctor. But now instead of a $25 copay for my kid's strep throat, it's $250 out of pocket towards my $12,000 deductible.

      Affordable Care, but for who I have no idea.

    4. Re: Said... by HornWumpus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Your guy makes 'bad decisions', the other side has 'scandals'. That is the 'different'.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    5. Re:Said... by HornWumpus · · Score: 2, Insightful

      1. No. Blacks are overrepresented as % of the population, but are UNDERREPRESENTED as % of violent criminal population. That is a FACT. The black community does have a bitch, not getting it's fair share of police protection. That isn't fixed until at least 40% of those being shot by police are black (the % of violent crime they commit).

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    6. Re: Said... by jwhyche · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No you weren't. The ACA was a mistake, "you can keep your doctor" was the like that allowed the mistake to be passed in the dead of the night. Obama knew when that turd was passed that you wouldn't be allowed to keep your doctor, unless you paid out the ass for it.

      The red line was a bluff and when it got called Obama folded like a house of cards.

      The ACA deboggle, his doubling the national debit, and his horrible foreign policy are just 3 of the reasons Obama will eventually be labeled as one of the worse presidents in history.

      --
      I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
  2. cat tongues are like sandpaper by rmdingler · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's difficult for me to admit, but this comment is lucid and downright Presidential compared to what comes out of the Oval Office currently.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

  3. Re:Good for the goose? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

    I did it but you shouldn't.

    Please explain this comment.

    People often quote the Obama you can keep your doctor thing. Obamacare increased the required minimum coverage to a useful level. That was hardly a secret. That hardly makes him guilty of creating and sustaining a whole ecosystem of lies, like the current one.

    Just today the liar in chief tweeted,
    "WOW, @foxandfrlends “Dossier is bogus. Clinton Campaign, DNC funded Dossier. FBI CANNOT (after all of this time) VERIFY CLAIMS IN DOSSIER OF RUSSIA/TRUMP COLLUSION. FBI TAINTED.” And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!"

    Fact: Various parts of the dossier have been proven to be true.
    Fact: It was never presented as more than raw intelligence work, at least by its creators. The fact that not all of it may be true, does not make the rest of it automatically false.
    Fact: The republicans funded it first, thus making it non partisan, or maybe bipartisan.
    Fact: The FBI is not tainted. Trump saying it does not make it so. People have political opinions. Unless you can prove that the purpose of the investigation is more political than actual, then you have nothing. For an example of a more political than not investigation see Trey Goudy and all the rest. One of them even admitted it.
    Fact: Hillary is not crooked Hillary. No more than Jeb is low energy Jeb, or Marko Rubio is Little Marko. Name calling is juvenile.
    Fact: There is no evidence that the dossier is the only evidence going after the Trump campaign. The four indictments would say otherwise.
    Fact: The US government and its elections is a hell of a lot more important than the Trump campaign.

    In short Obama warned and Trump demonstrated why the warning was necessary.

  4. Man, he used "Balkanisation" properly by Lisandro · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The contrast with the current administration is so depressingly stark...

    1. Re:Man, he used "Balkanisation" properly by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1, Insightful

      So, you didn't actually investigate the mountain of evidence, you merely attempted to discredit the alternative media outlet that's shouting the truth. Jeez, do you work for the mainstream media or something? An extensive timeline of the corruption in the FBI, and how it affected the election.

      Just a few days ago, FBI's top General Counsel James A. Baker, the man who leaked the "Piss Dossier" to Mother Jones (a far left magazine), is reassigned by FBI Director Wray. This is huge, huge. Is your news not reporting this? Maybe you're listening to fake news. Get out and listen to the alternative media. Here's a good starting point for you, he's a leftist just like you, you'll agree with a lot of what he says. Start clicking on the related videos it'll start showing you and follow where they lead. Good luck! I envy the intellectual journey of enlightenment you're about to embark on.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  5. No, children, I am not trolling by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I really do want a citation which shows that Obama took the side of black people before facts came out. If your position cannot survive requests for clarification, then it is garbage. In this case, trolling, racist garbage.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:No, children, I am not trolling by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "The police acted stupidly." -- BHO

      They did act stupidly, and what's more, they acted like racist fuckbags. And we need to be calling them out on it, and they know they are in the wrong! Here, let me provide as evidence an article on the subject from Faux News. Why would I want to do such a thing? Because amongst their long list of repudiations from police (as if they were in any way relevant) there are absolutely zero counterarguments against Obama's statement which do not boil down rapidly to "we don't like to say bad things about police, and we don't like it when you say bad things about police, because we are police." Obama did make his statement with the "benefit of the facts", one of which is that black people are unfairly profiled and targeted for harassment because of the color of their skin.

      Followed by a "beer summit" to try to play it off.

      I googled beer summit and I discovered the following:

      An independent panel with experts from across the nation published a report on June 30, 2010, which states that "Sergeant Crowley and Professor Gates each missed opportunities to 'ratchet down' the situation and end it peacefully" and share responsibility for the controversial July 16 arrest. Crowley could have better explained how uncertain and potentially dangerous it is to respond to a serious crime-in-progress call and why this can result in a seemingly rude tone. Gates could have tried to understand Crowley's view of the situation and could have spoken respectfully to Crowley. The report cites research that shows people's feelings about a police encounter depend significantly on whether they feel the officer displays respect and courtesy.

      IOW, an independent panel found that Gates acted inappropriately. "Do as you're told and you won't get shot" is a message for hostages, not citizens. Which do you consider yourself?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:No, children, I am not trolling by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "The police acted stupidly." -- BHO

      Followed by a "beer summit" to try to play it off.

      Let's see, a man in his own house, the police come out, the man in his own house provided ID as requested, then requests the police officer provide his own ID, then the police end up arresting the man, finally letting him go after four hours, then dropping the charges.

      That's pretty much qualifying as acting stupidly to me. All the police officer had to do was give his own ID, then leave, and there would not have been any lingering controversy or significant upset.

      Of course, Obama's actual words were:

      "I don't know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role race played in that. But I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home, and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there's a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately."

      Sadly, what you can say was stupid in Obama's case, was refusing to hold to his position, instead he did try to be accommodating and defused the tensions. Won't work. You can't cure a disease by placating it.

    3. Re:No, children, I am not trolling by bongey · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "If I Had a Son, He'd Look Like Trayvon'" . Less than 30 days after the shooting.

  6. Re:Good for the goose? by penandpaper · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You need to get your facts straight.

    Fact: The republicans funded it first, thus making it non partisan, or maybe bipartisan

    The GOP, after the primaries, stopped using Fusion GPS. The Democrats took it up with hiring Steele who worked with Russians to get the dossier that seems to be used as justification for investigating Trump by the Obama admin. Let's also not forget Bruce Ohr that was in the Mueller investigation wife Nellie Ohr worked for Fusion GPS.

    We do have evidence, through this affair, that the Democrats commissioned foreign agents to work with Russian officials with intent to influence the election.

    Fact: The FBI is not tainted.

    There are some problems with the FBI and the many conflicts of interests that are coming out. Mueller did the right thing by demoting them and removing them from investigations but that does taint their image and reputation and more importantly their perceived impartiality.

    Fact: There is no evidence that the dossier is the only evidence going after the Trump campaign. The four indictments would say otherwise.

    The problem is that many of the crimes for those indictments came years before the election or after the election during the transition. The investigation has gone beyond the original scope "Russian meddling and Trump collusion". I'll wait for the closure of the investigation but as it stands now I am not impressed with the indictments nor criminal charges Mueller has.

    In short Obama warned and Trump demonstrated why the warning was necessary.

    The problem is that Obama and his administration were so heavily biased that his warning would have been disregarded.

  7. Re: In other words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Obama wasn't even far left. He was way more moderate than left.

    The discussion is tainted by weak vocabulary though. There are 2 axes to talk about. Progressive/conservative and libertarian/authoritarian. The discussion only focuses on the progressive or conservative angle but never touches the more important libertarian/authoritarian axis.

    Expect every comment in this thread to not touch it, either, because the level of discourse nationwide is 5th grade at best.