Guest post by Laura Downing
We keep hearing that Mis-, Dis-, and Mal-Information are actual threats to democracy and must be dealt with by those who have determined that they are such.
According to CISA (Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency), “Misinformation is false, but not created or shared with the intention of causing harm”. WHO gets to determine “intent” or “harm”?
“Disinformation is deliberately created to mislead, harm, or manipulate a person, social group, organization, or country.” WHO gets to decide that deliberation and
how they misled, harmed, or manipulated others? “Malinformation is based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.” WHO gets to decide what is fact and the context? The answers to these questions should identify the “who” that is driving this evaluation. A better evaluation of information is whether it is TRUE or FALSE. TRUE information should be allowed to be created, spread, repeated, or published, and all without punishment or suppression. FALSE information should be allowed to be created, spread, repeated, or published, and all with the expectation that the recipient has the right to rebut, ignore, counter, and/or dismiss all false information. The 9 th Commandment (of the Ten) is about lying and bearing false witness. Both are prohibited by the Almighty. So, those who are involved in false information should know that the penalty is gonna involve extreme heat.
Our Founders knew there was a better way than to have ANYONE determining what speech is “allowed”. They enshrined this RIGHT to free speech in the First Amendment to the Constitution which says, “Congress shall make no law …abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” And yet, the mantra about protecting democracy by doing this very thing is proceeding unabated. Look around. Do you have free speech? Is there freedom of the press? Why are we allowing that right to be curtailed by those who want to restrict it? No country can ever be considered Free unless her citizens are allowed to speak
freely. No one should have the right to tell them what, when, where, how, or if they can say what they want to say. No one. Any effort to suppress speech is, by definition, censorship and unconstitutional.
The next time you are told something is Mis-, Dis-, or Mal-Information, maybe you should focus on whether or not the information is TRUE or FALSE and react accordingly.