Thread by @ErrataRob

1/ Yes, yes, most of the health misinformation really is crazy conspiracy nonsense spreading like memes on the Facebook.

But at the same time, Dr. Murthy is one of the jack-booted thugs angry at the fact that their authority is being challenged.

https://twitter.com/Surgeon_General/status/1454181040357052419

2/ Take vaccines and masks, the things that people get really angry about. The scientific data supporting the "safety" and "efficacy" of vaccines is really, REALLY good.

But the data for masks is shitty, REALLY shitty. And yet, we can't acknowledge this.

3/ There's good reason to believe that masks help reduce the spread. It may be only a little, but it may be the factor that reduces R₀ from 1.1 down to 0.9, meaning a small effect can have huge consequences.

So there's good reasons to support mask mandate policies.

4/ But on the other hand, there's good reason to believe that masks really aren't helping. All the data I see people cite on social-media about mask efficacy is obvious pseudo-science garbage, like invermectin data.

So there's good reasons to oppose government's mask positions.

5/ Then the third factor: the same officials telling us to wear masks now told us not to at the beginning. They wanted to protect the supply for health workers.

There's good reason to believe anything the Surgeon General tells us is driven by politics rather than science.

6/ Yes, yes, almost none of the viral tweets/posts about vaccines/masks get anywhere close to such reasonable debate, and are full of misinformation and pseudo-science.

It's just that the position of questioning authority is still the right, enlightened position.

7/ Facebook knows this. They are simultaneously trying to fight misinformation while still upholding enlightened values.

Every time government authorities insist on cracking down on Facebook, they make me want to support Facebook even more. And I hate the Facebook.