We Must Allow Misinformation
A Case Study In Truth and Propaganda
(Please read Rob Reiner’s tweet pictured to understand my article.)
“We Must Allow For Misinformation”
That statement may sound strange but in many ways it must remain true, so long as the integrity of factual context and correct information is made readily available too. Here is a great example. Rob Reiner must be allowed to share this tweet even though it contains misrepresented information without the entire context. The tweet is part of a campaign coordinated to misinform people about Donald Trump’s health, which was strangely used in the opposite from the same people when Joe Biden was clearly in decline for years. You don’t need to support Trump or Biden to understand what is going on here.
What makes this kind of misinformation so important is that people who have access to see the actual context can go see it. They have the opportunity to see the truth and the lie. If this ability is taken from the people through censorship and only one-sided information being allowed, people might actually believe the false narratives they are being told. We do not have to count how many times the fact-checkers have been wrong to know how important this is.
In Rob’s case, looking into the context discovers this was not a “normal” situation as if Trump was intentionally not answering questions to host a music listening party because he is mentally unstable. (Besides a listening party sounds like a good idea, we want joy in our lives right?) Trump was intentionally not answering questions and they started listening to music, BECAUSE there was a medical situation being attended to with another human being in the crowd. This is the most important detail of the situation. To not know this, or reveal this, means you are either ignorant or you are intentionally creating false narratives to make something appear as if it was real.
The level of bearing false witness against Trump is quickly becoming one of the biggest case studies in propaganda in history, especially because of the internet age.
When I searched “Trump listening to music medical situation” in Bing the two articles that popped up in the “news” headlines read: “Trump sways to music for 39 minutes at bizarre town hall, sparking concerns over mental fitness” and “Trump ends town hall to listen to music, reigniting questions about his mental acuity.” This level of manipulation in the headlines was something that made me look into the misinformation phenomena about 4 years ago. These were the exact kinds of headlines at the time that I decided to finally look into as they had inundated my feed for years and I was shocked at the level of dishonesty present. I would read what they said Trump said or did, then go to the actual context only to find they completely took out of context what he said or did, while spinning a narrative to make him look bad. It was strange to see how people were being trained to hate another human being, which is the exact strategy of propaganda to dehumanize another person.
Any journalist with integrity would have researched this particular context and started a headline with something like, “Medical Emergency At Trump Town Hall…”
It’s fine if you want to question someone's mental capabilities from there inside your own article, which was strangely off limits for many regarding president Biden for some reason…or another, however, leading people with coordinated misinformation tied to accusation is quickly losing credibility with more people than ever. There is a reason so many “Never Trumpers” have turned to support Trump in record numbers, as they began to see what was being done to them. As the giant media powers that used to control narratives are in the final stages of a possible collapse (Unless the government succeeds in its censorship attempts) we are on the verge of one of the greatest awakenings in human consciousness this nation has ever seen.
But what if people were never allowed to see the actual context of what someone said, meant, or did? What if one side of an issue is wiped out from having a voice? What if all the government pressure to censor information, especially that which is damning to their own corruption, finally won out?
These are my biggest points to take away from this regardless of whether you support Trump or not. Like I said, he is just the latest and greatest case study in modern history to learn from in real time. The larger points are that misinformation is important but must be allowed to compare itself to factual information, which is something governmental powers are trying to prevent as we (still have the freedom to) speak. Misinformation seen side by side with factual information gives us an ability to understand how someone thinks and views reality. It gives us the ability to discern between two things. It gives us the opportunity to see light in the darkness. It gives us the contrast necessary for free speech, and freedoms in general, to continue serving the people.
So please, stand up for freedom of speech and fight censorship regardless of who you vote for, hate, love, or support. It is truly important for all of us and for future generations.
Writing from within this freedom while it is still here,
-PH