I absolutely agree that the current Democrats in power have shown an alarming lack of respect for free speech and a willingness to suppress true information they don’t like. However, I also have to ask whether you have proof that Africa Stream was not funded by Russia? It’s possible for both to be true.
Our current media situation is tricky. In theory, we have a free press. In practice, nearly every media outlet is the propaganda arm of one of the two political parties. They’ve managed to accomplish this even without direct government ownership or control of the media, which makes it difficult to invoke constitutional authority to stop it. Our current system also leaves us open to propaganda and manipulation by anyone who wants to influence American public opinion or create dissent. I struggle with this because while I believe in free speech and generally believe that the remedy for inaccurate speech is more speech explaining why it’s inaccurate, I also see us falling into a situation where it’s difficult to know who’s telling the truth, splintering into tribes who grow more and more extreme and only consume information that backs up our world view, and platforms, not the government, choosing a side and only allowing speech that supports their point of view. I’ve watched my own vulnerable child be brainwashed by people online using sophisticated techniques. And who knows who’s taking funding from whom.
Transparency would be a better solution than shutting down speech. If the government has proof that Africa Stream is being funded by Russia, they should have to show that proof and allow people to judge for themselves whether it’s a credible source of information.
Now this is a website that I've never heard of. Thanks, Blinken!
I absolutely agree that the current Democrats in power have shown an alarming lack of respect for free speech and a willingness to suppress true information they don’t like. However, I also have to ask whether you have proof that Africa Stream was not funded by Russia? It’s possible for both to be true.
Our current media situation is tricky. In theory, we have a free press. In practice, nearly every media outlet is the propaganda arm of one of the two political parties. They’ve managed to accomplish this even without direct government ownership or control of the media, which makes it difficult to invoke constitutional authority to stop it. Our current system also leaves us open to propaganda and manipulation by anyone who wants to influence American public opinion or create dissent. I struggle with this because while I believe in free speech and generally believe that the remedy for inaccurate speech is more speech explaining why it’s inaccurate, I also see us falling into a situation where it’s difficult to know who’s telling the truth, splintering into tribes who grow more and more extreme and only consume information that backs up our world view, and platforms, not the government, choosing a side and only allowing speech that supports their point of view. I’ve watched my own vulnerable child be brainwashed by people online using sophisticated techniques. And who knows who’s taking funding from whom.
Transparency would be a better solution than shutting down speech. If the government has proof that Africa Stream is being funded by Russia, they should have to show that proof and allow people to judge for themselves whether it’s a credible source of information.
How would one go about proving a negative?