Flat Earth theory censorship

[Gesundheit2]

As I began my spiritual quest about 7-8 years ago, I started questioning everything. One of those things was the shape of the earth, and all the telltales around it. At the time I did my research on the subject, the internet was flooded with conspiracy theories and all sorts of information that supports the flat earth theory, and of course, the opposite side.

Recently, I've been having some interesting "conversations" with an acquaintance - a conspiracy theorist - who believes that there's an elite group of people who rule the world, etc... So, anyway, in one of our conversations, he told me that the flat earth theory is censored from YouTube and Google. I did a quick search, and that seems to be the case.

Right now, I'm wondering about the reasons. I get it that conspiracy theories are not generally a good thing to dig into. So, I'm not against censorship of conspiracy theories per se. But what about different opinions? And what about free speech?

Let's take it one step further and say that the flat earth theory is absolutely false. Still, why the censorship? It doesn't make sense to me. I mean, what's the point? Like if someone believes in the flat earth they're going to fall off the edge of the earth or something? I just don't get it. What's so wrong/bad about the flat earth theory?

 

EDIT: Turns out there's no censorship whatsoever, only SEO-based results as it appears to me now. The initial quick search results gave me the impression of censorship because I didn't take the time to look more closely.

In this light, it appears that "censorship" has become another weapon that conspiracy theorists use nowadays in order to feel righteous.

I apologize for the misinformation. It was a hasty judgement on my part.

Thank you all for your inputs and your time.

Edited July 13, 2021 by Gesundheit2

[Roy]

They censor it because it's misinformation, it's disruptive, and it doesn't help anyone.

Remember in school how there was always that kid that got sent into the hallway or to the office because they were being too annoying?

It's like that, but scaled up to the level of society lol.

[Gesundheit2]

@Roy Do you know whether the censorship is limited to individual agencies/platforms or if governments have similar policies? I'm trying to understand what's happening, and my info is still not enough to make any conclusions.

[Danioover9000]

@Gesundheit2

15 minutes ago, Gesundheit2 said:

As I began my spiritual quest about 7-8 years ago, I started questioning everything. One of those things was the shape of the earth, and all the telltales around it. At the time I did my research on the subject, the internet was flooded with conspiracy theories and all sorts of information that supports the flat earth theory, and of course, the opposite side.

Recently, I've been having some interesting "conversations" with an acquaintance - a conspiracy theorist - who believes that there's an elite group of people who rule the world, etc... So, anyway, in one of our conversations, he told me that the flat earth theory is censored from YouTube and Google. I did a quick search, and that seems to be the case.

Right now, I'm wondering about the reasons. I get it that conspiracy theories are not generally a good thing to dig into. So, I'm not against censorship of conspiracy theories per se. But what about different opinions? And what about free speech?

Let's take it one step further and say that the flat earth theory is absolutely false. Still, why the censorship? It doesn't make sense to me. I mean, what's the point? Like if someone believes in the flat earth they're going to fall off the edge of the earth or something? I just don't get it. What's so wrong/bad about the flat earth theory?

   It could be that the theories were presented more aggressively that it became annoying for mainstream, which is probably why it's censored. I get it if it's a more dangerous conspiracy theory like quanon or about anti vax, but flat earth? What I've seen so far is that it's not that dangerous compared to other conspiracy theories to warrent aggressive censorship.

[Preety_India]

My ex boyfriend used to tell me that the earth is flat.

I told him there was only one way to know.

 

[Gesundheit2]

18 minutes ago, Danioover9000 said:

@Gesundheit2

   It could be that the theories were presented more aggressively that it became annoying for mainstream, which is probably why it's censored. I get it if it's a more dangerous conspiracy theory like quanon or about anti vax, but flat earth? What I've seen so far is that it's not that dangerous compared to other conspiracy theories to warrent aggressive censorship.

Interesting point!

I think there's a difference between discussing the flat earth theory as a neutral theory alone on its own, regardless of whether it's true or false, and between attaching all sorts of conspiracies to it. Then again, I guess it's not possible to make that distinction in practice because space agencies claim (confirm without a doubt) that the earth is round with their evidence being satellite images, landing on the moon, sending explorers into outer space, etc... So, for all that pile of evidence to be false, there must be something fishy about NASA and other agencies, which eventually leads to conspiracy theories 

Edited July 12, 2021 by Gesundheit2

[Gesundheit2]

10 minutes ago, Preety_India said:

My ex boyfriend used to tell me that the earth is flat.

I told him there was only one way to know.

The narcissist?!

Some flat earthers will deny the round earth even if they saw it with their own eyes. They will say they're hallucinating a round earth, when it in fact is a disk. Or they will say NASA is using the fish eye effect on their subconscious mind. Or something like that.

[Leo Gura]

People spread bullshit and then yell "Censorship!" when companies refuse to promote their bullshit.

[Carl-Richard]

It's kinda the same reason why you mow the lawn, or sweep the driveway, or use the fly swatter. It gets annoying when you get too much of it.

[Danioover9000]

@Gesundheit2

1 hour ago, Gesundheit2 said:

Interesting point!

I think there's a difference between discussing the flat earth theory as a neutral theory alone on its own, regardless of whether it's true or false, and between attaching all sorts of conspiracies to it. Then again, I guess it's not possible to make that distinction in practice because space agencies claim (confirm without a doubt) that the earth is round with their evidence being satellite images, landing on the moon, sending explorers into outer space, etc... So, for all that pile of evidence to be false, there must be something fishy about NASA and other agencies, which eventually leads to conspiracy theories 

   I mean, it's rare but it's possible to independently think about a conspiracy theory at stage yellow and seperate it to it's constituents, but other than that there's gonna be a ton of subtle fears and deep shadows and thought stories attached to each theory that it makes it much harder to treat it with neutrality. Also, that latter point about attaching conspiracies together, that is possible. Take Qanon for instance, it's part elitist taking over, part satanic worshippers, part connection to reptilians working under the shadows of the federal state, with a hint of sexual slander, and you have a cluster of conspiracy theories that have now become one conspiracy theory.

   With flat earth theory, as obvious as it is a conspiracy theory today, 10,000 years ago the majority of mankind believed the earth was flat, and it was the center of the world, as real as life itself.

Edited July 13, 2021 by Danioover9000

[cookiemonster]

3 hours ago, Gesundheit2 said:

As I began my spiritual quest about 7-8 years ago, I started questioning everything. One of those things was the shape of the earth, and all the telltales around it. At the time I did my research on the subject, the internet was flooded with conspiracy theories and all sorts of information that supports the flat earth theory, and of course, the opposite side.

Recently, I've been having some interesting "conversations" with an acquaintance - a conspiracy theorist - who believes that there's an elite group of people who rule the world, etc... So, anyway, in one of our conversations, he told me that the flat earth theory is censored from YouTube and Google. I did a quick search, and that seems to be the case.

Right now, I'm wondering about the reasons. I get it that conspiracy theories are not generally a good thing to dig into. So, I'm not against censorship of conspiracy theories per se. But what about different opinions? And what about free speech?

Let's take it one step further and say that the flat earth theory is absolutely false. Still, why the censorship? It doesn't make sense to me. I mean, what's the point? Like if someone believes in the flat earth they're going to fall off the edge of the earth or something? I just don't get it. What's so wrong/bad about the flat earth theory?

Perhaps the wildest theory of them all isn't so much theory but rather an understanding: That is to say that all 'conspiracy theories' as with all 'scientific facts' are relative truths, and therefore exist with equal illusion within the infinite canvas of experience.

Or in other words, there is an experience where the relative truth that the earth is flat exists, and there is an experience where the relative truth that the world is round exists. If both of those timelines were seemingly identical from the perspective of a single finite agent, the ability to to make an assessment of which is which would be virtually impossible. The timelines may even be actually identical if one factors in quantum shit / Schrodingers Cat etc.

More practically though, and in regards to the censorship from Youtube... my guess would be that they would want to treat all conspiracies with the same brush, so as not to give away any game theory. (For example, if flat-earth theory was permissible but JFK assassination theories were not permissible etc.)

[Carl-Richard]

7 minutes ago, cookiemonster said:

More practically though, and in regards to the censorship from Youtube... my guess would be that they would want to treat all conspiracies with the same brush, so as not to give away any game theory. (For example, if flat-earth theory was permissible but JFK assassination theories were not permissible etc.)

Flat earth is actually so ridiculous, it shouldn't even count as a conspiracy theory. It's on the level of internet spam and deep fried memes. You have to be so ignorant of physics and the world in general to actually believe in it.

[4201]

Whether they should be censored for the greater good is a whole other debate but as to why they are censored : because it's in the best financial interest of Google and YouTube. Having free misinformation on their websites do not help their public status and thus reduces their value. 

[lmfao]

5 hours ago, Gesundheit2 said:

Recently, I've been having some interesting "conversations" with an acquaintance - a conspiracy theorist - who believes that there's an elite group of people who rule the world, etc... So, anyway, in one of our conversations, he told me that the flat earth theory is censored from YouTube and Google. I did a quick search, and that seems to be the case.

Right now, I'm wondering about the reasons. I get it that conspiracy theories are not generally a good thing to dig into. So, I'm not against censorship of conspiracy theories per se. But what about different opinions? And what about free speech?

Let's take it one step further and say that the flat earth theory is absolutely false. Still, why the censorship? It doesn't make sense to me. I mean, what's the point? Like if someone believes in the flat earth they're going to fall off the edge of the earth or something? I just don't get it. What's so wrong/bad about the flat earth theory?

Good question, not really too sure man. Maybe the censors have the sense that being a conspiracy theorist is worse than knowing nothing about a topic. 

I don't think I ever bought into the Flat Earth. I entertained Hollow Earth.


A lot of the extreme conspiratorial thinking seems to be a stage blue thing tbh. When I was a teenage conspiracy theorist, my conspiracy theories were related to Islamic myth and were very fantasy driven. You can look at the style of these YouTube videos and just see what sort of vibe it is. These stories of the illuminati + anti-christ/dajjal, reptilian shapeshifters, NWO, it's like a cult myth that followers are told. { I'm open to there being some truth to the illuminati/NWO theories, I just don't know }

Earliest conspiracy theory I heard was when I was only 12 about the world ending in 2012. I was scared about that lol, and I still remember the nightmare I had. A nightmare about the apocalypse, the planets crashed into the earth like meteors, and everyone turned into spirits walking on stairs to ascend to heaven. 

Edited July 13, 2021 by lmfao

[Epikur]

If God has humor then he should make flat earth theory true. He might geht a lough out of it.

[Consept]

Flat earth theory is really going to struggle to keep going with the imminent passenger space travel from virgin galactic and others, would be interesting to see how that's explained, maybe it's a simulator or something.

In terms of censorship I guess what you're saying is 'what harm can it do?' to have potentially false ideas out there, especially if there's even a slight chance they could be real. 

The issue is how they are presented, so this isn't a neutral scientist saying 'here's the evidence for flat earth and here's the evidence for a globe'. These theories turn into belief systems a kin with religion, where they actively try and convince others what they believe. I guess inherently there's nothing more wrong with that than any other religion, so if it isn't causing damage then there's not as much of problem. 

However if you have a privately owned platform then it may degrade the validity and integrity of that platform if you allow such vagrant misinformation posing as truth on it . For example imagine this forum if there were many topics discussing and going into detail about whether flat earth is true or not, most serious actualizers would never come on here. Its the same with youtube and Google, if every out there, debunked, theory was given the same weight as proven theories then most likely people wouldn't go to those platforms for information, at best it would be very confusing. 

So to me it makes sense from that perspective, however they should obviously be free to talk about it amongst themselves, the idea itself is not censored its just not promoted. But the problem is if people find what they think is truth they always want to share it. 

[Stomatopod]

12 hours ago, Gesundheit2 said:

So, anyway, in one of our conversations, he told me that the flat earth theory is censored from YouTube and Google. I did a quick search, and that seems to be the case.

I just typed "flat earth" into youtube and instantly got hundreds of videos, including entire channels dedicated to flat earth conspiracies even with the words FLAT EARTH in the channel name. I clicked on it and of course it also includes obligatory covid conspiracies and anti-vax/anti-mask videos.

If they are trying to censor it, they are not doing a good job.

[Blackhawk]

It's good if they censor such bullshit.

It should also be illegal to spread such bullshit. Throw them in jail.

And those who believe in such bullshit should get compulsory mental care.

Edited July 13, 2021 by Blackhawk

[Gesundheit2]

17 minutes ago, Stomatopod said:

I just typed "flat earth" into youtube and instantly got hundreds of videos, including entire channels dedicated to flat earth conspiracies even with the words FLAT EARTH in the channel name. I clicked on it and of course it also includes obligatory covid conspiracies and anti-vax/anti-mask videos.

If they are trying to censor it, they are not doing a good job.

Thank you! 

It seems my quick search was rather hasty. I should have looked beyond the first 20 results. 

Sorry for the misinformation, guys. Censor me lol.

[snowyowl]

There may be a broader issue around why some people are so passionate about believing in paranoid conspiracy theories to do with global elites, evil govts, alien reptiles etc. It could be serving a psychological inferiority complex about why we are so exploited and downtrodden by the rich. Or maybe passing the buck of responsibility for why the world is in such a mess onto some invisible elite.