Opinion
OPINION: After family park drama… we can help control warped communications, especially on social media
Enough is enough.
The misuse of social media channels to whip up public frenzy with misinformation and outright lies has poisoned our civic dialogue at every level, from the very local – as demonstrated by this week’s unnecessary brouhaha over the Lehi Family Park – to the broadest stage of our national elections.
The landscape of how and where we get our information has changed so much just during my lifetime that it makes my head hurt just to think about it – not to mention what my grandparents would say if they were still around.
Let me be clear. I have been a passionate advocate of freedom of the press, as the role was envisioned by the Founding Fathers of this nation, my entire life.
The Framers understood the need for an unfettered source of information to balance out those tasks granted to the three branches of government – legislative, executive and judicial – as a necessary check on the misuse of power.
I’m NOT suggesting an approach such as those seen in authoritarian regimes where only the dictator decides what the people see and hear.
What I am suggesting is that it’s time for all ordinary, law-abiding citizens to draw a line in the sand by refusing to participate in the perpetuation of online fables and the tyranny of anonymous attacks.
Nowadays, it seems like everyone thinks they are entitled to say whatever they want whenever they want and however they want. In past eras, the boundaries of public discourse were set by common decency and good manners, but it seems like no one can agree on what those mean anymore.
Now, anyone with a computer or even a smartphone can set themselves up as an “influencer” with a few clicks of a button and try to widen the reach of their opinions by gaining followers – and, not coincidentally, attempting to line their own pockets at the same time.
Such individuals often choose to get attention by promoting positions on issues they think will get them the desired results, regardless of whether they are taking something out of context or promoting just plain falsehoods to do it.
There are also those with smaller circles who try to make themselves feel more important by tearing down others. This amounts to cyberbullying and is an urgent issue in this country, particularly among our teenagers, where it has played a huge part in the current children’s mental health crisis.
Add to that the constant stream of AI-generated drivel that now fills cyberspace and it’s hard to distinguish between what’s real and what isn’t.
When I raised my hand to take my oath as a member of the Armed Forces, I pledged to defend everyone’s right to say what they want and live as they choose, so long as they obey the rule of law. I still hold myself to that standard today.
But just as I would defend another’s right to speak, I would defend my own right to NOT listen or widen the reach of questionable messages by passing them along even when I’m denouncing the content.
I choose to just say no. And this is how.
When I hear something outrageous, I’m going to be skeptical and demand proof before I take it at face value and share it with anyone else. When I hear things I know to be lies, I’m not going to let them go unchallenged. When someone shares gossip, it’s going to stop with me.
I’m not going to be sucked into supporting something I don’t believe in just because some celebrity or self-appointed “influencer” says I should, nor am I going to spend money on anything based solely on their word without first checking their claims.
In short, I will refuse to be a puppet of social media’s self-appointed gods or to be manipulated into hurting others.
On the other hand, if someone wants to challenge a position of mine with a reasoned argument, I promise to listen with an open mind and some humility. I fully accept the idea that I could be wrong about something.
But you’re not going to convince me by shouting in my face or saying rude things about me in public cyberspaces.
Let’s all do what we can to return both civic and personal dialog to a reasonable level by toning down our voices and our rhetoric and recognizing that composure and compromise are required for our society to function properly with protections for all.
