Free speech ain’t free. It comes with responsibility.
I thought everyone knew this until I got sucked down some rabbit hole of social media posing.
After a series of “no you’re lying” — “no you are” retorts, it dawned on me that lately we have forgotten all about the “responsible” side of free speech.
I had gotten into a comment war over the Algerian boxer. Some random dude said she was a dude. I said his source was bullshit.
But like JK Rowling and Elon Musk, he kept doubling down and telling everyone else in the tread to “stop lying.”
He only had one source. And a bullshit source at that — a Russian sports official. You know the same group that got their entire country kicked out of the 2020 Olympics for repeated cheating.
When I was a journalist 35 years ago, we wouldn’t dare take a piece to the editor unless we had two “credible sources.”
I forgot that in the last 20 years journalism has died. No one seems to care about “credible sources” and one internet link is just as good as any other.
“I included two links” my little troll said. Like that should end all discussion. “The facts are not in dispute.”
But of course his “two links” pointed to the same suspicious source, and he had no other “facts” and not a single credible source.
It took me a few days to realize… he really doesn’t know the difference.
We have built this amazing information machine with links and split-second search engines that bring all the information in the world to us in milliseconds. We are adding AI as fast as our little venture capital dollars will go.
But “content” and “hits” and “likes” — “back links” and “search-engine optimization” have replaced common sense.
“Credibility” and “responsibility” and “accountability” have been left in the dust.
The AI ain’t real. It can only detect “reality” from popularity. AI can only guess at what is good or what is true.
That tech will not save us from ourselves.
We are all stuck with the “trolls” who couldn’t tell a credible source if it bit them in the ass and only care about “information” that confirms their existing biases.
Wallowing in this shit hole of trolliness, I saw an ever so small glimmer of hope.
The French are suing JK Rowling for passing the same bullshit story about the Algerian boxer. Elon Musk might be caught in the same suit.
They arrested the Russian CEO of Telegram for allowing lies and crimes (especially pedophilia) to propagate in his channels.
And it dawned on me… the solution is to treat every single one of us online like we are a “publisher.”
Hold us accountable for every like and retweet and restack and post.
We all have to own what we “say”. Cite at least two credible sources for what we post and show an “absence of malice”
For those who have forgotten or never heard of what that means, Paul Newman and Sally Field said it well in the movie “Absence of Malice.“
I’ll save you the two hours. It has to do with intent. Are you trying to tell the truth and just made a mistake? You’re safe.
Or are you trying to score political points and push an agenda without worrying about what is true or accurate? You’re liable.
Ask Fox News about liability. They learned 787 million lessons in it when they repeated lies about voting machines without a single credible source. For those who cannot tell, Rudy Colludy has not been a credible source since 2015.
Malice is Fox News middle name. They hurt whoever stood in the path of their own narrative.
The solution is to apply the same standards to every human on earth. If we post online, we are all publishers now.
Let’s see if the French can lead the way to fine and punish JK Rowling, Elon Musk and the other “private citizens” who are quick to post bullshit to push their opinions on the rest of us.
If decorum and decency won’t make people behave, maybe the threat of lawsuits and big payouts will.
I’m willing and ready to put my bullshit blog to the test. Most of the time I manage to find a credible source or two, and the rest is just my own opinions…
Sue me if you want little trolls, but it won’t get far. But just remember we can all sue you too.
Maybe these kinds of consequences would make everyone use their right to free speech responsibly and learn the difference between a credible source and just more internet bullshit.
Suing people for libel is one thing, arresting them for misinformation or hate speech is quite another, which seems to be happening in other countries. I’m glad that isn’t happening yet in our country.
But as for libel, I thought we were all subject to being sued under libel laws anyway, on social media. As I understand it, it’s the social media companies that are exempt from lawsuits for libel. At least, in the USA.
What I don’t like is censorship, which has been happening in our country. With censorship, “misinformation” or “hate speech” tends to become anything the political party in charge happens to disagree with. That’s the path to totalitarianism, in my opinion.
Mostly agree. Telegram guy is not being arrested for hate speech as much as failing to stop criminal activity. It’s like a bank allowing money laundering. If you have a communication platform, you cannot knowing and willingly enable crimes. People have been able to sue for libel and slander in social media, I’m saying it should be done more and platforms should be responsible for anything they promote or push with an algorithm.
Platforms face more censorship from advertisers than government — hence Musk and his law suits against his own customers.
I’m not for censorship and taking down content, but I am for punishing platforms for promoting misinformation, libel and lies. The 2 credible sources and absence of malice are good standards for any content that gets promoted by a platform.
I guess we’re in some sort of agreement here. I believe in the spirit of open debate where just about anything goes as long as it’s not illegal, such as specific threats of physical violence.
Open debate has a tendency to expose misinformation for what it is, just as you exposed that troll you were debating online. To me, there’s no better disinfectant than sunshine.
I definitely believe in open debate, but lies, Russian (and other propaganda) and deliberate misinformation that is likely to lead to violence or injury is not the spirit of open debate. I don’t think it should be censored, but it should follow ethical rules for posting — no fake names or anonymous accounts, and be subject to boycotts of readers or advertisers, lawsuits for libel or slander and ridicule of the general public. For instance if a vaccinated child gets measles (which is now theoretically possible due to lower vaccination rates — see Oregon 2024 for details on increased risk) the parents of the vaccinated children should be able to sue all the anti-vaxxers for spreading false information and endangering their child.