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Is it still wrong to spread misinformation even if it's only to troll people rather than harming them?

Last Updated: 21.06.2025 02:01

Is it still wrong to spread misinformation even if it's only to troll people rather than harming them?

Similarly, the whole “sovereign citizen” movement (which we call OPCA up here in Canada) was also a joke where someone used a whole lot of pseudo-legal language (that’s the “P” in OPCA) to say you weren’t subject to any laws you didn’t agree to. Not a month goes by without someone believing in this nonsense.

The legendary Franklin Veaux often asks questions about “NOFAP”, the belief that not masturbating will turn you into Superman (or something). As he keeps pointing out, the whole thing was a joke that was posted on 4chan or reddit (I forget which).

Now, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion wasn’t so much a troll as fake, but over a century later people still take it seriously even though it contains errors about Judaism that no Jew would make.

If Russia needs the resources to fund the war in Ukraine, why doesn’t it throw open its doors to visa free western tourism? Enough people would be interested, & it would start to get some hard currency as €, CHF, £, SEK, $, JPY in the tills at shops.

Absolutely.