The Perversion of Information

Back when the internet was a passing fancy and everyone had to connect to the "worldwide web" through cumbersome means like a dial-up connection, we thought we were seeing the beginning of a revolution; that finally, the free flow of information will allow for equal access to knowledge, and that, ignorance will somehow be contained.

Boy, we were so wrong.

Twenty one years have passed since the threat of the Millennium Bug was proven to be a hoax and here we are, still in need of fact-checking resources. Websites like Snopes and Fake History Hunter are on the constant lookout for viral social media posts as they are likely infecting the internet with inaccurate and often exaggerated historical accounts and disproven urban legends. Theirs is a constant battle, a never-ending warfare to set things straight and weed out tall tales from scholarly-verified facts. And in a time when digital lies and propaganda could shape the outcome of election turnout (like what happened during the last 4 years under Donald Trump), their presence proves more valuable than ever.

If only such gatekeepers could really compete with the spinmasters.

As it stands, Snopes and their associates are bound to lose as it is easier to peddle lies than embrace truths. Inaccurate historical accounts like the one shared on the photo appeal more to human nature as it is sensational, even scandalous. When you apply the sensational and scandalous and weaponize them into perverted knowledge like anti-vaccine, critical race, and flat earth theory, the result is having a group of people whose ignorant and toxic beliefs poison the collective conversation. 

And it is getting worse every year.

They say lies when told over and over eventually become truths and with truths often assaulted these days, it is just a matter of time before the more discerning among us finally succumb to whatever belief a groupthink dictates.