Misinformation: the Thin-Skinned and the Gullible
A close friend of mine received some unwelcome post recently: a letter from the local police force with an accusation of insulting behaviour. It referred to a comment she had posted on a certain social media web site – well-known for its own lack of legal responsibility, partisanship and the politics of its owner – where she drew, in no uncertain terms, the original poster’s attention to a piece of misinformation from a German politician, well known for a wealth of false claims over the years, and described the further distribution of such fact-free propaganda as more than just foolish. The poster felt that their honour and credibility had been offended and, rather than raising a gauntlet and striking their opponent twice across the cheek with a demand for satisfaction, lodged an official complaint with the police. The police, as they are required to do, contacted my friend for a statement prior to passing the accusation on to higher authority for prosecution or, as might seem more fitting,
Of course it is not right to simply insult a person, regardless of who they are, and there are certain words and phrases which are counted as being a high level of insult and which, in the right circumstances, can result in a person being brought to justice. One merely needs to think of a certain government which has banned the use of the words River and Sea in a certain sentence, marking it as a terrorist offense, to understand how this can be taken beyond acceptable limits. The self-same government takes great offense to certain words, even when used to illustrate a fact, and any of Member of Parliament calling someone a liar within the House of Commons, whether it be true or not, can be expelled from the chambers for speaking the truth out loud. In other theoretically democratic countries we witness those who are above such laws, or believe themselves to be, and suffer no consequences for their officially recorded insults and verbal abuse. But to comment on the foolish actions of someone who we might expect to know better?
Anyone can fall a victim to the mass of misinformation and propaganda which pollutes the internet today. A certain mindset or expectation and a well-written or produced piece which supports our beliefs and convictions? With the sheer quantity of information being sent out every single minute of the day, overwhelming quantities no one has the power to sift through, let alone question, it should be no surprise that some read a headline, agree with its basic principles, and click a favourable report, or even quote it. That headlines can be clickbait is clear to some, but if that clickbait matches our own stance? I recently bought a magazine based on the headline, within its pages, that the Woke are here to stay, only to discover that the writer is a (now to me too) well known extreme right political agitator. I take considerably more care with my finances since then, even if it costs me an extra minute or two to leaf through, scroll down, listen further.
Even so, despite the mass of information flooding our screens, anyone who is of a mind to further distribution should be prepared to stand by the contents. If they have not read and understood it, regardless of their political tendencies or educational abilities, it should remain untouched. And when we are considering the comments and beliefs of someone who has, time and time again, been proven to be rather more economical with the truth than is good for this world, we should be all the more active in checking their sources and facts.
Justice will take its sure and certain route in the case of my friend. She has written her statement – under the careful eye of a lawyer – and submitted it. The complainant, the insulted accuser who is so thin-skinned they cannot understand a freedom of speech moment, or an honest opinion has, undoubtedly due to many, many other comments on the original post, removed it. They have kept a screenshot, perhaps many more in case there are other accusations doing the rounds from their pen, but the original is gone. They are happy to prosecute another person for their opinions, but not strong enough to stand up when their own convictions might be questioned, when their own actions might come under scrutiny. Perhaps it is time we not only held the social media platforms which allow misinformation to be propagated on their servers, and earn millions as a result, but also took a glance at the failing educational systems which, thanks to progressive financial cutbacks in several First World countries, are failing our children and young adults, and do not help foster and expand the critical thinking a functioning adult needs in the modern world.
