Illustration by Michael DiMilo
By Geoff Carter
Mark Zuckerberg, the kingpin of Facebook, joined the other subservient members of the royal court last week, bowing down to the new American despot, Donald Trump, while proclaiming that Facebook will no longer fact-check content on the popular social media page, opening the door (even wider) for any crackpot conspiracy theorist or malignant foreign influence that wishes to obscure or bury the truth. This policy echoes that of Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter) another of Trump’s acolytes. These moves are only the latest in a long trend of obfuscating the truth, muzzling the media, and furthering specific political agendas through misinformation.
Once upon a time, we were a society that believed in and depended upon traditional print and broadcast media to bring us the news—which they did remarkably well. Journalistic codes of practice, including accuracy and mandatory fact-checking were, and (in some cases) still are the norms in day-to-day news reporting. There was a time when local newspapers and broadcasters like Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, and Harry Reasoner were some of the most trusted persons in the country. They reported the news accurately, fairly, and objectively. From reports of President Kennedy’s assassination in 1962, to the horrors of the Vietnam War, to the first manned moon landing in 1969, to the Watergate scandal, traditional print and broadcast media were America’s trusted sources for the news of the world.
Realizing that a free press was integral to the welfare of the republic, our founding fathers guaranteed a free press in the Constitution and enacted The Fairness Doctrine in 1949. This policy was designed to guarantee that broadcasters present both sides of any controversial issue in a fair manner. So, if a pro-lifer appeared on a program to espouse his views, the broadcaster would be obliged to rebut that opinion with that of a pro-choice person.
But then, thanks to President Ronald Reagan—who vetoed a bill to turn the doctrine into law—the FCC abolished the Doctrine in 1987, paving the way for politically biased news talk radio moguls like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity. While the Fairness Doctrine technically only applied to broadcast stations, the relaxation of accountability indirectly led to more extremist organs like Fox News, MSNBC, OAN, and others.
Enter social media, where anyone could say–and publish–anything about anyone at any time under any circumstances. At the beginning, in the interest of free speech, there was absolutely no regulation of any of these platforms. As a result, conspiracy theorists, QAnon, racists, haters, and extremists of all stripes came out of the woodwork, and with no authority fact-checking reports or curbing the more malignant contributors, the truth became increasingly hard to identify—even for those interested in seeking it.
These past few years have seen an increase in crackpots espousing 9/11 inside job conspiracy theories, stories about Democrats kidnapping children and drinking their blood, and worse. This was followed by insidious claims that common vaccinations for polio, smallpox, and the measles cause autism, and that the Covid epidemic was exaggerated, claims that cost thousands to lose their lives.
Had there been safeguards and gatekeepers on Twitter and Facebook and other sites, these outlandish stories would have withered on the vine. Had these social media sites, which are now—and make no mistake about it—regarded as news sites, been regulated like reputable newspapers and broadcast stations, the American public would have remained well-informed, but as it is, they are woefully—and sometimes deliberately ignorant. Some Americans seem ready and willing to believe anything that looks good to them, no matter how plausible.
To no one’s surprise, this willingness to believe the outlandish and embrace the sensational, and the eagerness with which users bully and condemn their opponents has been exploited by politicians to establish and consolidate their powerbases. False reports about vast numbers of rapists, murderers, and criminals pouring across the border were vastly exaggerated—but readily believed. In truth, there have been a record number of immigrants recently, but the number of crimes they commit is actually a lower percentage than those committed by the native population.
Rumors of a “great replacement theory” maintaining that immigrants of color are part of a plot to diminish the influence of our white-dominated society. Despite there being absolutely no sort of substantiation for this preposterous theory, it persists on the internet and is thought to be directly responsible for the racist killings at a supermarket in Buffalo. Elements of this theory were found on a document allegedly posted by the shooter. After the horrendous flooding in North Carolina, posters on Facebook warned residents there not to trust any FEMA or federal officials—resulting in additional suffering. All this was done to demonize political opponents.
Exploiting fear, hate, and racism has become bread and butter politics for the MAGA wing of the Republican party. Not only do they encourage the sort of fearmongering fictions told on social media, but they also constantly demonize mainstream media and reputable journalists as purveyors of “fake news”.
Donald Trump has routinely bullied and insulted reporters at his White House press conferences; he has been determined to ignore the professional reporting of our respected journalists and write his own reality (which is usually bred out of his own vanity). After his first inauguration, he insisted that record crowds attended the ceremony, but aerial photographs compared side by side to Obama’s first inauguration proved Trump’s claim was—at best—an exaggeration. Yet even when faced with overwhelming photographic evidence, he insisted he had the bigger crowds. He also tried to change the map of a hurricane track because he had misspoken.
His biggest lie, however, was that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, a lie believed by millions of his followers, and which led to the January 6th Capitol riots. Even after having watched the riots transpire on television, millions believed Trump when he said it was a peaceful protest. People didn’t believe their own eyes. They believed Trump’s lies enough to reelect him.
Today, the truth has become as elusive as the Loch Ness monster. It lies somewhere in a fog of fear and misguided belief. Whether or not some may choose to ignore the truth because it is inconvenient or contrary to their views or frightening, they seem content to live with lies, or a tissues of lies. And for the next four years, they will be living with one big fat orange lie, something that might sound like this, “It’s the best and biggest lie you’ve ever seen, a wonderful lie, the best lie ever.”
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