The proliferation of propaganda via the internet makes this current movement back to the dark ages extremely complicated to offset. Every time I point to these toxic agitators, ie FOX and others, I receive aggressive push back on the grounds of the need for protection of freedom of speech. I am in total agreement with the need for freedom of speech however where is the line between this and malignant propaganda, that is tearing us apart from the inside? Americans, and in particular liberals are completely blinded on this point. I often point to the example of Germany who knows the actual dangers of hate speech and propaganda from their own painful fascist past and subsequently they currently criminalize it; unapologetically. They must have found a successful formula to do so since they currently stand as one of the most progressive and liberal governments in the world.
Part of the problem stems from the abolition of the Fairness Doctrine, which required a balancing of viewpoints in the news media. Its desmise opened the door to the avalanche of biased and propagandistic news programming. It's restoration would help without limiting the First Amendment. But the problem extends much further. Facebook and other social media require massive regulation. We are revisiting the era of the robbers barons, when massive monopolies were in control. The presumption of Silicon Valley at its birth was that the multiplication of voices and connectivity would be good for democracy. It has transmogrified into a horror show.
The proliferation of propaganda via the internet makes this current movement back to the dark ages extremely complicated to offset. Every time I point to these toxic agitators, ie FOX and others, I receive aggressive push back on the grounds of the need for protection of freedom of speech. I am in total agreement with the need for freedom of speech however where is the line between this and malignant propaganda, that is tearing us apart from the inside? Americans, and in particular liberals are completely blinded on this point. I often point to the example of Germany who knows the actual dangers of hate speech and propaganda from their own painful fascist past and subsequently they currently criminalize it; unapologetically. They must have found a successful formula to do so since they currently stand as one of the most progressive and liberal governments in the world.
Part of the problem stems from the abolition of the Fairness Doctrine, which required a balancing of viewpoints in the news media. Its desmise opened the door to the avalanche of biased and propagandistic news programming. It's restoration would help without limiting the First Amendment. But the problem extends much further. Facebook and other social media require massive regulation. We are revisiting the era of the robbers barons, when massive monopolies were in control. The presumption of Silicon Valley at its birth was that the multiplication of voices and connectivity would be good for democracy. It has transmogrified into a horror show.