Accountability for misinformation

[mtbc]

I have long been frustrated by people who spread sensational allegations that are so easily falsified by a little research. A high fraction of anti-vaxxers are the latest in a long line of such, coming easily to mind because their lies are probably currently killing hundreds of Americans every day. Before scaremongering on the back of a handful of third-hand anecdotes, one has a duty to seek and consider credible evidence to the contrary, especially from those qualified either by field of expertise or front-line experience.

There are a couple of dimensions to this. Credulous bigotsinnocents may spread talking points, like that immigrants disproportionately draw on benefits and cause violent crime, while believing them. However, there are also leaders who should know better, people with resources and education, who fail to challenge those lies, preferring to tell other lies in making decisions that kill many Americans, such as by refusing Medicaid expansion money. Especially as one climbs the political ladder, one finds so many assertions made, such as on the expected socioeconomic effects of policy, that they ought to realize are already convincingly refuted by the evidence.

This mix of irrational ignorance and malicious mendacity is no foundation for good. Ongoingly, it hurts so many people needlessly. What is wrong with us? It is hard to think well of humans when one puts them together and ends up with the society we live in. Maybe we can somehow be pushed into being better but, to achieve that, people must be held to account for what they say or repeat. I do not see how that can happen when so many others share, even embrace, the delusion.

Comments

[dewline]

They're paving the way for fascism. Full stop. Waging war on facts and reality is the core of the strategy. And the cruelty remains the end-goal.

[mtbc]

I guess it's doubly important then that those of us who feel otherwise should not look on and do nothing. /-:

[shadowkat]

Part of the problem is with technology, specifically the internet - it's become insanely easy to share misinformation on every single thing. I mean I'm on a fansite, where the moderator has a rule that no one can share clickbait sites or false spoiler/rumors. And that's minor. People post whatever lies they want to tell - and they find convincing ways to back them up. A lot time ago, about twenty years ago, I was listening to a radio conversation in a cab ride to the airport. The cabbie and I were laughing - because they were talking about how not only Fox News, but also the Press Secretary to the President of the US at the time were using internet bloggers to fact check. Internet Bloggers!
My god. How inaccurate can you get. And they were complaining about this tendency, and how Fox kept getting called on their factual inaccuracies as a result.

On twitter and FB - you can post something and it will go viral in seconds, if it hits the right mood and audience at the right time, and the right person shares it. People get into trouble all the time on Twitter. One famous director was getting into trouble constantly, it got to the point in which I'd wonder - okay, what did you do now? It's so easy to be misunderstood.

The media is camped out on twitter. So one must be careful to keep a low profile and say as little as possible. A few actors have gotten themselves into trouble - and scaled back their tweets or deleted their accounts, as have politicians.

Trump - got kicked off of both FB and Twitter post the insurgency. Which cost him 60% of his marketing platforms.

The problem is so much is based on marketing - the marketing of specific messages, etc. I don't know what the ult-right hopes to gain through the anti-vax, anti-mask messaging. All they are doing is killing their own constituents. The states with the highest number of cases and the most deaths, along with the areas with the most nation wide, are conservative. I'm in Brooklyn, and the Hassidic community - an ultra conservative community was hit hard by the virus. It accounts for most of the deaths, as do the Latin American community which is also very conservative. People are hurting themselves for what? A bunch of antiquated beliefs?

[mtbc]

I am certainly curious about the motives behind those funding the anti-vaccination campaigns.

Ubiquitous social media and suchlike feel like a new problem for which we may not have any ready answer. /-: