Disinformation blooms more in America.
Trump signed this executive order about "restoring freedom of speech," but really it's like opening the floodgates and letting every crackpot, loon, and tinfoil hat enthusiast run wild. Orwell would look at this and go, "Damn, I thought I had an imagination!"
I mean, the order basically says, "Hey, federal agencies, sit down, shut up, and let the crazies have their fun." It's like giving a toddler a flamethrower and saying, "Now don’t burn anything down, okay?" Meanwhile, the Internet is out there foaming at the mouth, churning out more bullshit than a dairy farm with food poisoning.
Now, during his tenure, President Joe Biden's administration took several steps to combat the ever-growing hydra of misinformation:
Health Misinformation as a Public Health Crisis: The administration labeled health misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic as an urgent public health issue, urging tech companies to monitor and mitigate the spread of false information
Interagency Information Integrity Working Group: The White House announced the creation of a working group dedicated to combating misinformation and disinformation, aiming to coordinate efforts across various federal agencies.
Strategy on Countering Corruption: The administration released a strategy that included measures to increase transparency and combat financial crimes that could be used to spread disinformation.
Despite these efforts, critics argued that such measures infringed on free speech rights. However, the Supreme Court rejected claims of government censorship, stating that evidence of supposed censorship was "weak.
So now, people like Alex Jones are doing the happy dance. Oh yeah, this guy’s loving it. Thanks to Trump’s order, he’s back in business, baby! Full speed ahead! No more bans, no more restrictions, just pure, unfiltered nonsense, straight from his bunker to your gullible uncle’s brain. It’s like the disinformation Olympics and Alex Jones is the Michael Phelps of bullshit. He’s diving into conspiracy pools and coming up with gold medals made of paranoia and snake oil.
But here’s the kicker: Trump's over here waving the free speech flag like it's the Fourth of July, but really it's just a giant neon sign that says, "Liars Welcome!" We’re stuck between two extremes: one guy trying to duct tape the Internet shut, and the other guy letting every lunatic have an open mic night.
And people wonder why no one trusts the news anymore. It's not just fake news, it's choose your own adventure news. We used to argue about real things like taxes and wars, now it’s "Is the Earth flat?" "Did birds get replaced by government drones?" We've gone from "I disagree with your opinion" to "I disagree with your reality."
In the end, freedom of speech is a lot like a public bathroom. Everyone's got the right to use it, but if you don’t clean up after yourself, it’s gonna get real nasty, real fast. So, America, what’s it gonna be? Are we flushing this nonsense or are we just gonna stand around and let it overflow?
