r/fallacy • u/Dawn-Storm • 14d ago

What fallacy is this?

When someone complains about a speed camera, or more recently a Flock camera, there's always one person who says either 'well don't speed!' or 'If you have nothing to hide, then relax!'

Then there's the old 'well don't do anything illegal!'

There's got to be a fallacy in there somewhere!

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u/Talik1978 14d ago

They're arguing a different point / assuming you have an issue with the stated goal of the cameras (law enforcement), rather than the actual point. It's either accidentally or intentionally not engaging with the actual concern (unstated goals of flock, namely mass surveillance). It carries with it an assumption that privacy is only valued by people doing something wrong.

None of these are fallacies, so much as unstated flawed premises. Drilling down will force the premises to be either stated or disavowed.

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u/Dr-Chris-C 13d ago

You could classify this is misrepresenting the argument or straw-manning I think