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It may sound counterproductive for me to say this about my blog posts, but you shouldn't believe a word that I write. Or a word that anyone else writes for that matter. Instead, you should do your own research every time that you read about the topics that interest you. Even if what you are reading comes from a source that you trust. Every article that you read has some sort of bias, including those written by journalists from reputable media. The editorial line of the publication will always have a bias and will always try to please its audience. There is no such thing as an unbiased news piece and all opinion pieces obviously have a bias. The person presenting you with the information has, consciously or subconsciously, imprinted their own way of looking at life on the words they write. That is the reason why, whenever I write a piece where I share facts about any issue I always include the links to my sources so that you can do your own research and don't believe my words blindly. I was brought up knowing not to believe everything I hear and striving to find my own truth. That has made me a very inquisitive person.
"The truth is out there", said the famous tagline from the X-files. Today, it would read "The truth is paywalled". If you want to have access to rigorous investigative journalism on the internet you have to pay a fee. But, hoaxes, disinformation and conspiracy theories are roaming free all over the web. The majority of people either can't afford or don't want to pay to read news online and that is why misinformation spreads like wildfire. As a creator myself, I understand that journalists and news outlets must charge for their work but we must find a strategy to make truth and facts available to everyone or the misinformation problem will only become worse.
Back in 2017, I wrote a post where I spoke about how the most searched word on the internet that year was "truth". It's really preoccupying that today, 4 years later, misinformation is still being spread without any consequences and under the protection of Free Speech. As if Free Speech was meant to protect words that inflict hatred or cause harm to humanity.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate has released a new report in which it proves that as much as 73% of vaccine misinformation on Facebook and 17% on Twitter can be linked to the same 12 individuals. Take a few seconds to digest what I just said. Twelve people from the 8 billion humans that inhabit the planet are responsible for 73% of vaccine misinformation on Facebook. It seems to me that they are fishing in troubled waters. Someone always profits in moments of chaos. Sadly, it will take us a while to find out what their agendas are and by then the damage might be irreversible.
Finding sources that one can trust has become a major challenge. Take it from me, every time that I write on my blog I spend hours, if not days, carefully researching the topics that I write about. Actually, don't take it from me. Don't believe me. Do your own research. Read my words with the utmost disbelieve and carefully look for other sources to contrast the information that I present in my blog. The truth is out there... if you have the patience to find it.
Photo credit: portrait by Ivan Weiss.
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