There’s a growing and disturbing double standard that cannot continue unchecked.
We’re talking about how traditional media outlets are rightly held to account while social media platforms and their users can seemingly run amok unchecked in terms of distributing inaccurate information and defamatory statements about individuals.
Sometimes, such statements are downright criminal.
Print inaccurate information? A Canadian newspaper, if it does not correct the issue, can see the matter taken to the National NewsMedia Council, which serves as a forum for complaints against its members and to promote ethical practices within the news media industry.
An escalated matter could appear before the civil courts.
On social media, there is little, if any, regulatory oversight. People have the mindset they can share anything they want, regardless of accuracy or potential for defamation of individuals.
And it is getting worse.
Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg recently announced the platform, as well as Instagram, will no longer use independent fact checkers, replacing them with X-style “community notes” where commenting on the accuracy of posts is left to users. For now, the change is confined to the U.S.
The same platform that has banned Canadian news stories from appearing on its site – unless sponsored – is giving more freedom to the proliferation of online disinformation.
Proponents of the move say it removes a level of what they term censorship. Opponents counter with concerns over the spread of hate speech.
It is fatiguing to scroll through social media these days. It’s not so much about seeing differing political opinions, but rather the vitriol and personal attacks that plague the online world.
For example, on Facebook recently, a local individual reposted a rather libellous meme that said one potential federal Canadian Liberal leader, a woman, was an “expensive hooker.” Another, also a woman, was labelled a “corrupt foreigner.”
If something like that were to appear in traditional media, regardless of who was the subject, lawyers would instantly become involved.
But such trolling is all too commonplace on social media. People who should know better are all too quick to click “share.” If you think because you said it online that means you are insulated, think again.
“Negative statements about people or companies appear frequently on social media sites, such as Twitter and Facebook. If they are false statements of fact, they can be considered defamation in some circumstances, or more specifically libel because they are written statements,” according to the legal site justica.com.
There is no place for hate speech and defamation anywhere. Attack the issue, not the individual. Lord knows, there is plenty of factual fodder to utilize, regardless of political stripe.
