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 © J.McKenzie and Mia Shy Is this really Anna Karenina? Really! What's real? What's authentic?by Jamie McKenzie(about author) |
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Beth Orton sings . . . "Reality never lives up to all that it used to be." Later she adds, "The best part of life, it seemed, was a dream." Lyrics from "Best Bit" on her album Pass in Time (2003) Twenty years later, after two decades of massive distortion and faking, some people have evidently grown tired of virtual reality and suspicious of what AI might offer up, causing Merriam-Webster to select "authentic" as the 2023 word of the year. https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/word-of-the-year Encouraged to distrust all information sources, all news reports, all experts and just about all sources, where does one turn to find what is reliable and authentic? One might simply "Follow the leader," accepting the claims and statements of the person who warned followers to trust no one. With this strategy, it is not necessary to weigh the reliability of the information. Belief is grounded in faith. There is no need for evidence and no authentication process. This is a recipe for disaster and the end of our democracy, as citizens become blind followers, easily mobilized by a totalitarian leader who has no respect for rules or truth. We can ill afford to become a "Nation of sheep" -- the title of a book published in 1962. As Edward R. Murrow warned, “A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.” What's to be done?It would help if there were serious consequences and punishments for those who lie, engage in fraud and knowingly publish falsehoods. Freedom of speech should not extend to hate speech and deliberate misinformation.On the day I wrote the previous sentence, the House of Representatives voted to expel George Santos because of his misbehavior and lies. George Santos, the New York Republican congressman whose tapestry of lies and schemes made him a figure of national ridicule and the subject of a 23-count federal indictment, was expelled from the House on Friday after a convincing bipartisan vote by his peers.Truth or consequences! In 2022, ABC News reported "A Connecticut jury awarded nearly $1 billion in damages to 15 plaintiffs defamed by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones when the Infowars host called the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting a hoax staged by actors following a script written by the government to build support for gun control." The damages awarded Wednesday total $965 million -- far exceeding the award in a prior case in Texas. He was ordered to pay just shy of $50 million in that case, which was decided in August.Former President Donald Trump was found liable in a civil trial "for sexually abusing Ms. Carroll and awarded her $2.02 million in damages for the attack. Jurors also awarded Ms. Carroll $2.98 million in damages for defamation." Source: The New York Times The former President faces additional criminal charges of fraud and trying to overthrow the government elected by the people. The legal system is intent on enforcing the idea that no one is above the law. While these cases are encouraging, the spread of misinformation remains rampant and virtually unchecked, with the steps required to punish and block those who indulge in such activities too demanding for most to pursue. Debunking Fake VideosIf you take the time to view the video above, you will see that the challenge of debunking fake videos is quite burdensome, and if the video has already gone viral, it may not be possible to reverse or undue the damage done. The failure of X and others to act forcefullyFearful of being charged with censorship, I suppose, platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Meta Platforms have been quite permissive when it comes to policing misleading, fraudulent and untrue posts. It takes an especially horrible post to prompt removal. Prior to removal, X might label a post to warn viewers.You can read the X policy here -- "How we address misinformation on X" It seems far too gentle and too reluctantto act in a forceful manner. Platforms that do not swiftly block misinformation are complicit and must share responsibility for the general mistrust of much information these days. |
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