The Great Dilemma of Our Time

The great dilemma of our time is the very real need to preserve freedom of speech, in direct conflict with the very real need to stem the out of control wildfire of LIES. The Big Lie and a thousand others from the far-right; from the vileness that is Qanon; from the Russians, et al. The lies were always there–cf antisemitism–but the internet, while doing wonders for us all on one hand, is also a gigantic magnifier of the power of lying. Lying kills people–eg, think of the antivax lies. People died because the misinformation about vaccines led them to refuse vaccination. Misinformation about LGBT has led to violence against them–five shot dead just a couple days ago. In time, the next “Oklahoma City bombing” will happen–driven by the disinformation, misinformation, and sheer lying flooding our social media, Fox News, and spurious news sites and shows like InfoWars.