So you can't use machine learning.... can you use psychology to craft your message? Can you do surveys and gather demographic data to choose where to target?
You obviously think there is a line where you can no longer use tools to craft your message, but I am not sure where you would draw it.
I feel like any argument you make against machine learning is going to be able to also be used against something like the printing press. Couldn't people have said, "clearly, using a machine to make thousands of copies of your text is unfair and an abuse of free speech... you need to write your words by hand like the rest of us!"
I am sure where to draw it: at using machine learning. How did I draw this line? I saw the disparate impact machine learning has vs traditional media, by sheer measurement of friction. Traditional media requires intentionality on the part of the target: picking up a newspaper, turning on a television and tuning to a station. ML on social media exploits key weaknesses in human psychology combined with unprecedented data collection to nudge individuals to read/believe/buy. This is wrong, it’s clearly wrong, and should be illegal.
The sort of slippery-slope arguments are necessary and important but should not paralyze us from taking action against it.
Like a lot of issues you'll likely need to choose a Schelling point (arbitrary cutoff).
Some of it is simple inconveniences. It is a lot harder to learn enough psychology, understand your audience, and so on to influence them in comparison to having a program that scans every word they've put on their [social media account here] to decide how best to convince them. That would likely stop a good amount of actors.
If a quite small amount of people had access to and were using the printing press, then that might legitimately be an argument for the government in that country to ban it as it gives them more power over others. Though, once it becomes common and non-secret technology then everyone has been amplified the same way.
Now, that 'give everyone the ability to use machine learning to tailor their text to the audience' could be a route your could attempt, but I don't think it makes as much sense for machine learning even if I could imagine a society that has that.
You obviously think there is a line where you can no longer use tools to craft your message, but I am not sure where you would draw it.
I feel like any argument you make against machine learning is going to be able to also be used against something like the printing press. Couldn't people have said, "clearly, using a machine to make thousands of copies of your text is unfair and an abuse of free speech... you need to write your words by hand like the rest of us!"