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> Is there an ethical question regarding the computer-assisted manipulation people's perspectives, however ignorant and wrong they may be?

Yes, but why did you pick a temporary one-man experiment as your hill to die on rather than a persistent, large-scale manipulator like Facebook?

If you're actually concerned about the ethics of manipulation, why didn't you say anything in any of the several HN submissions about Facebook's fake news issues?

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You are right to draw attention to Facebook, but personally I live in China where it is blocked (a very intelligent and forward-looking Chinese government action, in my view) and rarely mentioned so I don't feel informed to comment on it's recent changes: the last time I touched it was perhaps 6 years ago in order to remove all vestiges of media from my account, then to remove my account.

It is true that there are larger manipulators of public perception - look at Hollywood - and I do think the same concerns should be leveled at them (eg. US military sponsorship and support for certain pro-US movies, product placements, etc.).

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