BY: JACK JURSNICH
Opinions Editor
With the election at a close, many Americans still hold the threat of misinformation as one of their many worries in President Trump’s oncoming term. However, I think the bigger problem is not misinformation itself, rather it’s people who decide what misinformation is.
First, let’s briefly describe how the term ‘misinformation’ is being used. Words like ‘misinformation’ – as well as ‘hate speech’, ‘racist’, ‘extremist’ – are used subjectively today and nobody can tell what anyone means. More often than not, these words are used as bad-faith insults that assume someone’s intent. If someone said that my article was ‘misinformation’ then they’d have to know or assume that my intention was to misinform people, but since that is not my intention, it’s a blatant overstep to just call it ‘misinformation’. Yet, this is the problem I’m describing: people don’t care what someone’s intentions are, nor do they care about what the truth of the matter is, they just claim ‘misinformation’ because (1) they have no better defense and (2) they know it’s effective.
Sometimes people like this just get lazy so they say ‘misinformation’ instead of trying to convince people, but the sad part about this is that a lot of people will just submit to what others call ‘misinformation’ without even thinking about it. I get it though, nobody wants to be spreading misinformation, but that’s why the term is so effective. Nobody wants to go further on what actually is ‘misinformation’ because they’re afraid they’ll be named as the one causing it.
Of course, there is a time and a place for the term ‘misinformation’ but while it’s become this he-said/she-said scenario where both sides point fingers on what’s ‘misinformation,’ I don’t think the term would be any more helpful than just trying to convince people of what’s right and wrong. If I disagreed with someone then I should explain in good faith why, rather than confuse everyone by calling that person a ‘liar.’
Let’s apply this to an example. Recent headlines suggest Elon Musk did a Nazi salute during the inauguration ceremony, and though I could easily just call this ‘misinformation’ and move on, I will explain in good faith why this headline is blatantly false. From just looking at the thumbnails about this story, you would think that Musk really made a Nazi salute. However, when watching the actual clip – not just the edited parts that social media has been circulating – then it’s very clear that Musk puts his hand on his heart, holds it out towards the crowd, and says, “My heart goes out to you.” Only a person with bad faith towards Musk would assume that he meant to do a Nazi salute.
Funny enough, the people who made such bad-faith remarks are being met with images of them doing the same gesture. If I was just as disingenuous as them, I’d say that they’re Nazis, too, but I’m not going to do that because I don’t want to be ‘spreading misinformation’. I actually care about the truth, as I wish everyone else would, because it sucks to communicate with people who can’t take anything seriously. We can have our fun by saying Elon’s gesture looked like a Nazi salute but we also have to act in good faith and understand that that’s not exactly true. At some point, we have to grow up and realize that all this talk about ‘misinformation’ is like highschool drama. We would make so much more progress if we acted like adults and focused on what is right instead of blurring the lines of what is wrong.
