Rant Alert - If you an individual that believes that 5G technology causes COVID19, that paedophiles are running a ‘deep state’ in the US or that Bill Gates is aiming to sterilise us all with vaccines I would stop reading now!
I have been watching social media content for a good few years, more so since COVID19 arrived and frankly I am horrified.
What I am seeing is apparently a very considerable acceptance of and belief in what can only be described as unscientific bullshit by an increasingly large and diverse sections of our society!
My fear is that easy acceptance of this rubbish is as a direct result of the lack of intellectual rigor and scientific training and awareness in our community and that this is now reflecting a polity unable to distinguish fact from fiction and that this erosion will lead to a progressive decay in both the quality of political decision making and community coherence.
Take this quality individual as an exemplar.
How conspiracy theories led a 'fringe scientist' to escape quarantine
By Harriet Alexander
December 29, 2020 — 5.35pm
Trapped under quarantine and ravaged by allergies in a Perth hotel room, Jenny D'Ubios slid into an internet vortex of conspiracy theories in the week before her Boxing Day escape.
The self-described "fringe scientist" shared with her Facebook followers articles about the dangers of 5G, a post by an anti-fluoride group that suggested coronavirus was a hoax, a video about the COVID-19 test (which was blocked by Facebook) and support for Reignite Democracy Australia, an activist group that sprang up in protest against the Melbourne lockdown.
Anti-COVID testing, anti-COVID vaccination and heavily populated by COVID-deniers, Reignite Australia was a group that clearly spoke to Ms D'Ubios and emboldened her to take drastic action against her confinement. By her seventh day in quarantine, she was spitting with fury.
"Everyone in the world is lazy and fearful," she said in a video posted to Facebook.
"They're going to use the army to mass vaccinate you for a 0.03 per cent contraction rate of a virus that doesn't exist with a 99 per cent healing rate. I'm done having to suffer because people won't stand up for their rights.
Vastly more here:
Sadly this good soul is not alone and many, many like her, feeding on the huge and expanding bubble of unscientific and ignorant mis-information and conspiracy theories found in social media have the potential to damage and impair our public health efforts to keep the population safe.
While ever we have an increasing population so ignorant of basic scientific principles and lacking even a reasonable factual base from which to draw, combined with provocateurs exploiting them on social media for nefarious purposes, we are at risk of societal disharmony or worse.
Being a PhD trained scientist I can recognise most of this rubbish for what it is, but how do we help others to escape from the nonsense? I suspect the answer is way above my pay grade but I fear for our society while ever such nonsense is promulgated and ignorant politicians like Craig Kelly push such ignorant kant.
How can we ensure the nutters do not become any more influential and dangerous than they already are and arm the citizenry with what they need to distinguish fact from fiction.
I have to say my worries are also echoed here ( I have no association with them!):
Perth’s quarantine escapee just tip of the iceberg of social media threat to Australia’s COVID-19 response
Australia's COVID-19 response is under threat from unchecked social media companies, as public health authorities have little insight into the scale of the problem, says Reset Australia.
News reports that a woman left quarantine in Perth after being indoctrinated by misinformation on Facebook is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to misinformation online, says Chris Cooper, executive director of Reset Australia.
"Social media has supercharged conspiracy theories and misinformation, pushing people into echo chambers where false information is all they see. Algorithms amplify the most sensationalist or conspiratorial content to keep us engaged and online longer, but that's often not factual or accurate information."
It's not just Australians leaving quarantine, the longterm threat that fewer people will be willing to take up the COVID-19 vaccine because of unchecked misinformation means meaningful action on social media is needed now, said Mr Cooper.
“Every important service provider or industry in our country has an inspection and enforcement method except Facebook and other social media giants. It’s time for social media to grow up and respond to proper public oversight.
“We don’t let restaurants just say their kitchens are clean - we have random inspections and we investigate any food poisoning.
“We don’t just accept people are paying their taxes - the tax office audits people.
More here:
https://www.medianet.com.au/releases/195683/
What do you think about all this?
David.
3 comments:
It is a challenging problem David. Have platform must make content any content. History shows that many people will believe anything n matter how far fetched and residuals it appears. I guess it is a defence mechanism of some sort. Not sure I know the answer in a free and open society.
An article in the Atlantic this morning adds some food foe thought - https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/617497/
A Wisconsin pharmacist convinced the world was “crashing down” allegedly tried to ruin hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine.
He told police it was because he believed the shots would mutate people’s DNA, according to court documents released Monday.
Police in Grafton, about 32 kilometres north of Milwaukee, arrested Advocate Aurora Health pharmacist Steven Brandenburg last week following an investigation into the 57 spoiled vials of the Moderna vaccine.
Officials say the vials contained enough doses to inoculate more than 500 people.
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