lemmy.ml meta

I def don't want this instance to be full of the reactionary anti-vaxx spam you see on the "free speech" reddit alts (which we are not a free speech instance obvi). Regardless of how their views differ, their hyper-individualized plague-spreading ethos is not welcome here. I've found they either don't think covid exists, or it isn't dangerous, and even if it is, its better that grandma die on the freedom altar... more important than lives, is their Freedom ^TM^. This captures it:

At the same time we should allow discussion as long as its respectful, especially on things like efficacy of various measures taken, specific vaccines, etc. I think its entirely pointless because I greatly doubt we have any epidemiologists here, but I guess that's what some people like to spend their time on.

I banned @[email protected] btw yesterday I think.

We dont have any site rules on those topics, so its not a reason for ban/removal on its own. There is also no rule about misinformation, because it can be very hard to determine what falls under that label.

I think if someone is clearly spreading false information, it should be easy enough for any user to debunk it using actual facts. That way mods can focus on their actual task (ensure that people behave well), instead of turning into some kind of "fact checkers". Besides, everyone can learn something from such discussions.