Disinformation is the deliberate use of lies to manipulate people, whether to extract profit or to advance a political agenda. Its unwitting accomplice, misinformation, is spread by unknowing dupes who repeat lies they believe to be true. In America today, both forms of falsehood are distorting our perception of reality.

In a democracy, the people need a shared set of facts as a basis to debate and make decisions that advance and secure their collective interests. Differences of opinion, and even propaganda, have always existed in the United States, but now, enemies of democracy are using disinformation to attack our sovereign right to truthful information, intellectual integrity, and the exercise of the will of the people. Online disinformation is particularly insidious because of its immediacy, its capacity to deceive, and its ability to reach its target.

  • knightly the Sneptaur
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    10 months ago

    Seems to me like the founders had a very specific kind of liberty in mind and a very narrow fraction of the population it would apply to…

    • Carrolade@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Pretty much, yea. Things like that are why we have an amendment process though.

      • knightly the Sneptaur
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        9 months ago

        Sure, but the amendment process is predicated upon broad agreement between the dominant political parties and hasn’t been used in 30 years, for an amendment about congressional salaries that took over 200 years to be ratified.

        As justice delayed is justice denied, I don’t think we can rely on constitutional amendments as sufficient. It took almost 200 years to finally ban poll taxes despite this country’s constant rhetoric about liberty and justice being for all.

        • Carrolade@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          I don’t think justice was much in the founder’s minds as much as self-determination. The two are not the same at all. Justice is a more recent value.