Should Tweets be fact or fiction?

According to a September 2021 Pew Research report, nearly half of U.S. adults (48%) get their news from social media. The problem with that is social media is less (if at all) vetted or checked for accuracy than traditional news media, and rarely distributed by people with training in filtering out misinformation and bias.

So nearly half of American adults are relying on unreliable information – using it as both foundation and fodder for their viewpoints and votes. And, let’s be frank, impacting their relationships with others in this contentious world both online and off.

That makes news of Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter controversial, given his announced intention not to filter for misinformation and fraud in the name of freedom of speech. That’s a change for Twitter, which like other social media companies has performed at least some “content moderation” to remove posts promoting violence, extreme hate speech and misinformation.

Don’t get me wrong, freedom of speech is good. We should all be free to say what we think and believe, and engage in open discourse about it. We have the right to think differently from and about one another; we even have the right to be rude (and to choose not to engage with discourteous people).

The problem is that when opinion or viewpoint is presented as fact to others under the guise of “news,” we should also strive for the right to know that it isn’t. That it’s opinion or at best, unverified. Yes, ideally we are all responsible for our own healthy skepticism, for checking sources and confirming information before we conclude anything about it, especially before we pass it on.

But you know how often that actually happens. Almost never.

So, like societies across the globe have done for centuries, we rely on the news provider to do that, at least minimally, according to basic journalistic standards. Imperfect as any human endeavor but generally in earnest (and a darn sight better than nothing), local and national newspapers traditionally have filled that role, staffed by educated people independently trained to check facts, verify and present more than one side in a story.

Living online as we now do has changed that.

So how far do we want social media companies to go? Should they pull or filter anything, or stay a free-for-all and leave all the onus on us users, who obviously don’t want to add the time to check every post? Should users demand this service from Facebook and Twitter, either by complaining or by migrating to other sites which will add some kind of reliability and fact standards?

Is society better off as it is now, with this unfettered bickering and can’t-trust-anything, bizarre reality? It’s not only uncomfortable not knowing what’s true anymore; it’s dangerous. We’re electing people based on misinformation (if we vote at all). Those less informed are running our governments without all the relevant data, or drowning in so much misinformed public feedback they can’t stick to actual facts. Some representatives are making changes in law based on misinformation; others are stuck in its quicksand.

The conservative thinktank Brookings Institution sees Musk’s approach resulting in at least four changes. A Brookings April 26, article says his takeover will likely weaken content, potentially increasing misinformation; “cozy up to China” with Musk’s and Tesla’s strong ties there; weaken accountability by taking this now-publicly traded company into private hands; and discourage artificial intelligence (Musk is anti-AI and other emerging technologies).

Does protecting free speech mean we have to accept this free-for-all with no clear line of truth?

Not if we separate fact from opinion again. Opinion: Free speech territory. Claim of fact: Subject to accountability and verification. Neutral media platforms — the sources of broad information individuals can’t otherwise access — are the logical arbitrators in a position to separate the wheat of fact from the chaff of opinion in print and online.

Certainty and reliability are key to the healthy, and much saner, society we all crave.

And yes, that’s opinion.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Email Sholeh@cdapress.com.