I’m often torn between different points of view because, as a Gemini, I can see both sides. Mind you, I don’t actually believe in astrology, but that’s typical of Geminis.
So when it comes to legislation preventing misinformation and disinformation, I can see that some would want such laws in order to prevent people spreading dangerous propaganda which makes us all less safe. I can also see that there’s a problem in deciding exactly what constitutes both misinformation and disinformation because one person’s lie is another’s truth.
Of course, we don’t want people able to publish information that is blatantly incorrect in order to scam their money or to get them to vote against their own interests. On the other hand, who’s to say that what’s actually in someone’s interest? I mean, it seems wrong for a person to be robbed of their life savings through a scam, but then maybe it teaches them resilience.
Granted, the proposed laws are more concerned with political information and that’s where it gets hard. If Donald Trump were to appoint the arbitrator then anyone who said that the election wasn’t stolen would be prosecuted for misinformation, but if I’m the arbitrator, then only things that are clearly misinformation would be banned… like just about everything Donald Trump says!
Ok, some of you might argue that I’m the one being biased but you clearly haven’t been listening to Trump’s recent rambles which seem to be as disjointed as a James Joyce novel. I’m fine with a stream of consciousness, but in Trump’s case it seems more like the sort of stream that he was accused of enjoying in Russia.
Speaking of Trump, when I had a momentary lapse in memory this morning about something which I can’t recall, my wife accused me of having a “Trump moment” rather than a senior moment, which I thought most unfair. Then I started to wonder how long before the phrase, “I’m just having a Trump moment” becomes synonymous with forgetting how your sentence started before getting to the end of your attempt to explain what it was that was so good about what you started to explain before you started to talk about how Sleepy Joe wouldn’t have been able to… I mean it was just so unfair that he was… where is he, by the way?
And, also speaking of Trump, I have seen several memes of him grabbing a kitten and/or a duckling. While this is obviously a reference to the alleged crimes in Springfield and trying to portray Trump as a protector, I can’t help but wonder how long it’ll be before someone adds those “locker room talk” comments about grabbing a certain body part that could be a substitute for the word “kitten”…
Anyway, the accusations of about those Haitians stealing pets is one of those things that may or may not be considered misinformation. However, when you’re repeating it without any basis beyond you heard that it was true and there are people saying that it’s not, then we enter this sort of world reminiscent of primary school where all sorts of fantasy were shared and believed until some nasty bully laughed and shattered the dream with a harsh dose of reality. The difference being that grown people have more resilience and often refuse to listen to the nasty person pointing out inconvenient facts because, well, they don’t have to and it’s a free country and I’m entitled to believe what I want and how dare you call Peter Dutton a racist just because he doesn’t want foreigners coming into the country…
So the problem with any mis/disinformation laws is the problem of how to ensure that it’s only genuinely incorrect things without taking away both people’s right to think differently and people’s right to repeat whatever nonsense makes them happy. How can a misinformation regulatory authority apply the law without reducing most of the Murdoch papers to a few ads and the footy scores?
Yes, it’s a hard one. But it does intrigue me that certain people just presume that they’ll be the ones being targeted. Do they know something about what they’re saying that they’re not sharing?
[textblock style=”7″]
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
[/textblock]
