Should there be an option to request the removal of a thread for 'dangerous misinformation'.

[ticktickticktickBOOM]

I feel that some of the threads about the riots are fuelling misinformation, driving division and becoming quite toxic and dangerous to communities.

It is time for a new look at the thread removal options?

This autocorrect made me smile!!

Just to counter the spread of misinformation here, this is an article from a well respected Olympics journalist, Alan Abrahamson.

"Following “many complaints from several coaches,” IBA said in a statement it also put out Monday, the two boxers “agreed to gender testing.”
At the Istanbul worlds in 2022, each gave a blood sample. Collection was made May 17, one at 1:38 p.m., the other at 1:39 p.m. The independent Sistem Tip Lab, which as the IBA statement notes carries license No. 194-MRK, issued reports May 24.
For both athletes, there is a summary on page 2 that says the same thing. Translated per Google from Turkish:
“Result: In the interphase nucleus FISH analysis performed on cells obtained from your patient's material, 100 interphase nuclei were examined with the Cytocell brand Prenatal Enumeration Probe Kit. An XY signal pattern was observed in all of them.”
At those Istanbul worlds, Khelif was the 63-kilogram silver medalist, Lin the 57-kilo gold medalist.
In its statement, IBA said the sole Istanbul test was “not enough to make a decision with respective consequences,” reasoning that with “one test, [a] mistake is possible.” It said lawyers “advised to monitor the situation and to contact the IOC.”
It asserted it informed the IOC but got no response.
“The situation was completely new to boxing, and IBA, following numerous consultations, decided to conduct a second testing before disqualifying the boxers,” it said. This is problematic because, at that moment, after the Istanbul worlds, heading to New Delhi, the IBA had no specific rule about athletes for which it had evidence of XY chromosomes. “However,” the statement goes on to say, “the second testing could only be conducted in a neutral country and within the IBA competition period.”
Thus, at the 2023 women’s words in New Delhi, a second test for each. This is the Dr Lal PathLabs test. Blood from both athletes was collected at 10:30 a.m. on March 17. Reports were produced March 23.
As IBA said in its statement, “The findings were absolutely identical to the first test results.”
On March 24, the then-IBA chief executive, George Yerolimpos, told Khelif and Lin they were going to be disqualified. They signed documents acknowledging they were being excluded per IBA Rule 4.2.1. The test details “were attached to the letter,” the IBA said."

https://www.3wiresports.com/articles/2024/8/5/fa9lt6ypbwx5su3z20xxnfzgtao0gy

I tried to post a link to an article about the tests but it hasn't come out. Please don't misrepresent the situation, on a thread where you're asking yourself for misinformation to be signposted.

Ok well that isn't what they said during the press conference. I listened to every word, twice. They would not reveal a thing.

I'm not misrepresenting it.

The statements from the IBA during the press conference yesterday do not match the statements being quoted in press reports and online articles.

Listen for yourself.

No-one, literally no-one, will conclusively say what the test or the results were and what it all means.

If I am wrong - please do post the link to the conclusive evidence you have. Cause no-one else seems to have it.

I tried to post a link. Look up Alan Abrahamson. He's a respected Olympic journalist. The press conference was a shambles for many reasons. Among them idiotic journalists.

The two boxers were tested twice. Both times they found XY chromosomes. The second test was the one they took action on because they didn't have a policy in place before that.

Here's the article on Twitter, if MN doesn't like the link:

x.com/alanabrahamson/status/1820607339164008602?s=46&t=SPorwN-mokktL467rcZ57g

Who decides? That’s always the question with any censorship. Isn’t it better to let grown ups decide for themselves what they think?

Also Dr Ioannis Filippatos clearly says here that the lab results say that Khelif is male.

x.com/reduxxmag/status/1820449146429399491?s=46&t=SPorwN-mokktL467rcZ57g

@ticktickticktickBOOM there are plenty of threads in FWR regarding this issue so I'll only post this once as I don't want to derail your thread. The IBA have their own website, with their own words on it. You could go straight to the source. As for IOC saying they have F on their passport, many countries are now allowing their citizens to change legal sex (different to biological sex) on passports, driving licences or even birth certificates. It is becoming meaningless. Again, many threads in FWR if you/anyone choose to look.

Point to note, the athletes did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential. This test conclusively indicated that both athletes did not meet the required necessary eligibility criteria and were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors.

If a human being has competitive advantages over females (or no eligibility criteria based on sex) they are either male or part another species (or alien i guess). Obviously they are NOT part another species so that only leaves one conclusion.

This is why debate instead of deletion is vital.

For the very many threads that are started in order to state or provoke disinformation, I would like to see a prominent warning from MNHQ to the effect that they have been flagged as possible disinformation and should be read with caution.
I think this would be more effective than deletion, as it would result in constant prompts for readers to remember how pervasive disinformation now is.

There could be similar flags for individual posts.

MN is a site for anonymous posters. Nobody should trust that anyone is qualified or knows better just because they make a post on the Internet.

That's why I try to add links to evidence as much as possible.

Maybe everyone needs to learn how to assess, question, and test information more? Critical thinking skills are crucial.

But threads on social media are a bit like people chatting at the pub. Yes, lots of pish talked, often.

The solution isn't to stop people talking but to develop better discussion/argument/debate/logic skills. That goes far wider than Mumsnet.

Or do people think that Bill down the pub should be actually forbidden from talking whiffle because he's not very bright?

Silencing people is more likely to foment unrest. If you silence Bill, he's not going to stop talking whiffle, he's going to go somewhere else to talk, and add another story about how he's being silenced to his repertoire, and this one will be true, so it will lend extra credence to his theory about alien brain swaps.

The boxer story is an excellent case in point, btw. Which claim should MN delete? OP would say anyone saying the boxers are male is misinformation. I'd say the opposite. Delete everyone? A chat site won't last long that way.

This is a very good suggestion.

Thanks

True.

Perhaps in this case, the 'read with caution' as suggested by ReadwithScepticism would be apt.

(sidenote - I do not believe that the womens olympic welterweight boxing is currently operating under fair rules, rules can never be fair if there is a clear advantage, rules can never be fair until all parties taking part agree the rules, the rules also need to run throughout a sport from bottom to top, you cant change them for each organising body)

Isn't there already some kind of general disclaimer to the effect that one shouldn't believe everything people post nor automatically trust it?

Talk guidelines:

'No trolling, misleading or deliberately inflammatory behaviour'

I can't find the 'don't believe everything you read on the internet' thing, now. Maybe it's only on certain boards or maybe it's part of an MNHQ post. I think it's all that's needed, tbh.

you mean the interpretations of facts you don't like or ...

It's only explicit at the top of each health thread. Perhaps it needs to be stated more regularly, especially at the moment with the threat to peoples safety being so high.

No,not at all.

Where peoples safety is at risk and there is a risk of actual civil unrest and violence. These inflammatory generalisations need some reigning in.

If mumsnet posters believe we can all regulate and police this ourselves by countering dangerous misinformation with links to facts, then fair enough.

I just hope the tide of racist rhetoric can be held back that's all.

I've reported stuff for dangerous misinformation reasonably frequently. The poster who advised that a bit of Calpol in their food would make cats feel better was the most egregious, but "vaccines cause autism" gets removed too.

Sometimes it's more effective to correct on thread and say "no, the perpetrators name was not X and he was not a Syrian refugee: here's an authoritative link" and sometimes it's better just to get it removed. If you're not sure then report as "other" and let MNHQ decide.

The boxers one wouldn't count as dangerous to me, whatever the truth is. Nobody is going to riot because they heard the wrong version on events on MN.

The boxers one wouldn't count as dangerous to me, whatever the truth is

This is the issue, as any new rule that can be weaponised, will be. And it likely won't be misused by regular MNers.

FWR has been under attack after attack from people furious that women have their own online space to discuss things like this. If MNHQ adds rules that let MRAs attack FWR, they won't stop there. They'll go after Relationships, Style & Beauty (which does get AGPs from time to time), then AIBU and the whole lot.

They won't stop until they get MN taken down.

Given that it doesn't seem to stop wildly inaccurate sometimes dangerous posting on the Health board maybe something more arresting like the MN warnings posted on potential begging threads would be more helpful?