Responding to contentious political posts. Especially mis/disinformation

September 2, 2020 4:17 PM

Is it OK to do so? If somebody makes a post on Facebook does that automatically give “friends” an implied right to respond in with civil discussion? My cousin for example, has been posting some rather divisive, often racist and certifiable as propaganda political posts. Often she posts an article or video and poses a questions. Sometimes it’s just, "Look at this video from the Epoch Times or RT! SHENANIGANS! What they (often the MSM) don't want you to know." More inside.....

Today she posted a link to antifa.com which TRULY DOES get directed to joebiden.com. The implication was that the Biden campaign and Antifa are in cahoots. This is happening only because the owners of the antifa.com domain have directed their traffic to Biden’s website.

Here is the response I made in response to the domain routing. I informed her that the same thing is being done to Trump through the micro-stroke.com website (Fox News link. I tried the micro-strokes link and it’s true). She said thanks for correcting me. I then asked her if she would consider removing the post in good faith and as prosocial citizenship behavior.

Is something like this OK?

Let’s assume that hypothetical responses in other instances are appropriate and not mean, hyperbolic or ad hominem attacks. Let’s also take into account that we all know it is unlikely we will change anybody’s opinion.

So, Etiquette responding to political and contentious posts. Especially mis/disinformation. Are these posts open to reasonable discussion?

Thoughts?

posted by Che boludo! to Human Relations (13 answers total)

Is it ok to engage in respectful discussion? Absolutely. Is it ok to politely ask someone to remove a post? Sure. Will they agree to do it? Probably not.
posted by mekily at 4:46 PM on September 2, 2020 [5 favorites]

It’s rarely impolite to engage in respectful, thoughtful discussion with someone you like unless they’ve asked you not to do so.
posted by kevinbelt at 4:56 PM on September 2, 2020 [3 favorites]

You’ll maximize the positive outcomes if you structure the interaction around swaying the audience watching it happen rather than the person posting the bad info.

The “as a good citizen, will you take down the bad info” ask is a fantastic way to handle things, even if the other party refused that request. Nicely done.
posted by FallibleHuman at 4:59 PM on September 2, 2020 [9 favorites]

How you're handling this is more than okay.

Politely providing factual information, engaging respectfully and clearly, and stating what you believe to be an appropriate course of action without scolding or blaming is pretty much gold.
posted by bunderful at 5:11 PM on September 2, 2020 [1 favorite]

I have found it useful to request they consider correcting their post (rather than removing it, when the platform permits that) so that they (the erroneous poster) don't get a bunch of messages trying to correct it for them.

Works pretty well so far, as long as I stay quite passive about my suggestions. Took a day and a half in one case, but they did in fact walk back their assertions in the end.
posted by aramaic at 5:13 PM on September 2, 2020 [1 favorite]

I agree with others that you handled this really well. You sound completely even keeled, which is hard for me in this realm, so yes, keep going.
posted by swheatie at 5:17 PM on September 2, 2020

I go with some variation of:

“Your source is tainted / undeniably racist / prove ably wrong. What is your intent in sharing this? Do you need help learning why it is wrong, or are you posting to make noise and or confirm your biases?

If you’d like to talk about this, I’d be happy to. If not, let me know and I’ll snooze or block you as I don’t take ‘disagreement’ over civil rights as something I want in people around me.”
posted by tilde at 5:52 PM on September 2, 2020 [4 favorites]

Etiquette responding to political and contentious posts. Especially mis/disinformation. Are these posts open to reasonable discussion?

I think this depends. It's really up to the person who posted it to say, but I actually think that most of the time these posts are not really open to reasonable (by which you really mean, appropriately-polite-yet-still-opposing -viewpoint) discussion. They are more like echo chambers.

That doesn't preclude you from responding and I think that anything posted in a place where a comment can be made (as opposed to locking comments, etc.) is implying that responses are sought, but just noting that the approach may not matter. Lots of people shut down in the face of conflicting opinion even expressed mildly.
posted by sm1tten at 5:58 PM on September 2, 2020

Is something like this OK?

Until she blocks you, sure.
posted by flabdablet at 11:04 PM on September 2, 2020

Of course it's ok. One, you were polite and open, so you didn't break any rules of etiquette. And two, she already broke the rules when she talked politics among friends, and when she shared racist propaganda.
posted by headnsouth at 6:42 AM on September 3, 2020

It's Facebook. Anything goes. If they didn't want responses, they'd change the privacy/comment settings on the post.
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:59 AM on September 3, 2020

Sounds like you're responding well, but if it's an obvious disinformation repost, flag it without commenting and move on. Facebook has a way of flagging fake news without blocking the person. It also means you're less likely to see that kind of post again.
posted by scruss at 7:12 AM on September 3, 2020

I think that you handled this situation fine, but, in general, I'm not sure that Facebook is the best forum for political discussions. I tend to think of Facebook like a bulletin board or a public street. People are sharing all sorts of messages and most of these messages are just not meant for me so I just scroll by them. Before I communicate anything through Facebook, I usually ask, "If someone was handing flyers out with this message, would I stop and engage?"

Of course, what makes Facebook such a difficult medium is that the person handing out the sketchy flyer is often someone we know and thought better of. Because we know the person, we want to stop and engage. We think that we can help them overcome their prejudices, biases, and illogical thinking. But I don't think that I have ever seen that type of change and evolution happen through Facebook. Usually such politically charged conversations seem to just result in hurt feelings, and I think that is almost inevitable because the discussion is invariably happening in such a public space.

I prefer to have political discussions with friends over tea and to take political actions in other forums.

Again, I think that you handled this specific conversation just fine. I suppose, though, that I would probably just flag the item (like scruss suggested) and move on.
posted by ASlackerPestersMums at 10:14 AM on September 3, 2020 [2 favorites]