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EntertainmentSep 23, 2026

Should entertainment platforms add stronger friction before users share outrage-driven content?

One AGAINST case in this debate

AGAINST@shane.burnett1 month ago

I run a small-town news site, and my most-shared posts are exactly what your filter would call outrage: a missing teenager, a boil-water notice, a factory closing that puts 200 neighbors out of work. Those posts are emotional because the events are emotional, and a pop-up asking 'are you sure?' injects doubt into urgent community information. Meanwhile the actual rage-bait farms, with their bot networks and engagement pods, will test their way around any prompt within a week. We have watched this movie with spam filters: the professionals adapt, and the collateral damage lands on the local publisher with no compliance department. With news deserts spreading, community journalism does not need another algorithmic speed bump.

4 comments

Discussion (4)

@andres.keefeFor1 month ago

Small-town reporter here too. Our boil-water notice got flagged as 'sensitive content' last year and reach tanked. The filter cannot tell urgency from outrage.

@rhys.maloneyAgainst1 month ago

But a share-pause is not a takedown. Your readers would still see the notice; they would just tap once more. That is a pretty small price.

@kurt.hardyAgainst1 month ago

This is special pleading. Every industry claims a rule will hurt it uniquely. The data on falsehoods outrunning the truth is overwhelming; act on it.

@byron.moseleyFor1 month ago

It is not special pleading when the collateral damage is the last local paper in a county. The rage farms have lawyers; my newsroom has me.