Speak up against disinformation

Allowing disinformation and lies to spread is dangerous and arrogant.

Like you, I am constantly reading lies about the government, lies about Covid, lies about vaccinations, lies about the scientific community, and lies about rights and legalities in social media and the news. The stories never end. Why do we tolerate this crap?

As Covid began to appear in Canada so did speculation about its lethality, its origins, and possible global conspiracies. And alongside these theories and questions came deliberate disinformation and “rage farming” that were masked as opinion.

With all major calamities comes the opportunity to exploit. Those who wish to do so, take advantage of fear and ignorance to manipulate the public for their own gain.

While we do have the right to freedom of expression there is nothing positive about allowing people to deliberately mislead others about health issues, politics, social issues, and laws. There is nothing positive about allowing hate speech and religious dogma to flood media.

In Canada, we are proud to be very tolerant but at times it bites us. Our permissive attitudes lack basic common sense and are a form of arrogance as we stand smugly by, allowing other people to voice their wrong, hateful, illegal “opinions”. We are too good; too lenient, to dirty ourselves by correcting them. After all, it will go away on its own. We don’t want to get involved. We don’t want to attract attention. We are afraid of repercussions.

Furthermore, we are perceived as annoying if we correct others. But to do nothing when we see wrongs is to not protect others. It is the ultimate lack of caring for our fellow man. And unfortunately, it comes back to us in terms of a world that cares less – for everyone, including ourselves.

I prefer to be the annoyance.

For the last 3 years, I’ve read hundreds of articles about and from the protest movement. They say they are fighting for my rights but they don’t consider the rights of society as a whole. There is almost nothing official or legal that rebuts their claims. These accusers are never held to account or taken to court if they cannot prove their claims. They have fed numerous protests, clogged the legal system with their baseless affirmations and cost the public billions of dollars.

There is no 100% one-size-fits-all vaccination with zero side effects and zero dangers. But overall, the vast, vast majority of vaccinations have alleviated human suffering and death as nothing else has.

I’ve read hundreds of articles, websites, and social media posts that revolve around anti-vaccination. There are well-known people and groups who push dangerous garbage out for all to see including vastly inflated negative “statistics” on any real injuries from vaccination. Why has nobody in government or public health directly challenged these “alternate doctors and scientists” to prove their claims?

We have an increasingly nasty political arena in Canada – legitimized by thug politicians like tRump who normalized the absolute worst behaviour in politics and in society. Campaigns based on strategies of hiding and distorting information from voters like this this and this should be investigated. Voters have the right to know what a politician is planning to do once in power. To remove that right is to kill democracy. And anyone who is doing that is a dictator.

“Rage farmers” like Pierre Poilievre are a variation of would-be dictators. They spout complete lies and libel about our economy, our current prime minister, Covid, other politicians etc and should be held to account. Why is nobody in government directly calling out the lies? Suing the libellous? Why are they not fighting back?

This then extends to complete lies about reality. Defining reality has become a commodity for the powerful and ultra-wealthy to benefit their interests. Their reality is about making money and gaining power at our expense. One only has to look at the campaigns of cigarette manufacturers, opioid manufacturers and the fossil fuel industry to get an idea of shifted reality.

• “Smoking is good for you ->smoking does not cause cancer ->oops we didn’t know -> smoking causes cancer, you did know and you’re getting sued”.
• “We’ve spent a lot of $$ curing pain -> it’s not addictive -> it’s your fault you’re addicted -> we didn’t know -> you did know and you’re getting sued”
• “Fossil fuels will cause global warming -> fossil fuels don’t cause global warming -> there is no global warming ->there is global warming but it’s a natural phenomenon -> more and more global catastrophes are linked to global warming” -> I’m hoping to hell you are all sued.

The end result of allowing this ton of bullshit to remain unchallenged is that people believe lies and act accordingly. They either don’t vote at all because they trust no one or they vote for liars who don’t deliver what voters want. Politicians who try to do the right thing (often at odds with big corporations) are buried politically. Social programs and campaigns that are good for the majority are defeated by those who would make a profit from them. Any science that disagrees with money is lied about, ignored and demonized at our peril.

I have seen the government and governmental branches (like health units, law enforcement etc) turn a blind eye to disinformation rather than directly confront it and the person or group behind it. The result is a breakdown in confidence that wreaks havoc. We no longer know who to trust.

Rather than allow disinformation to stand, it should be immediately confronted and the person or group pushing it should be asked to prove their allegations or shut up.

This includes the media. If you have to tow the party line or won’t dig for answers in exchange for access to a particular politician you have already become compromised and you are now part of a propaganda machine and a huge part of the problem. As journalists, we the public rely on you to hold those in power accountable. Journalism has to stand above financial considerations all the time. There are too many people with an insane amount of money who already manufacture what passes as news.

We need people who will defend the truth. It’s time to speak up.

Photo credit: Madison Inouye Pexels