Perhaps Joe Biden’s White House staff is too dumb to understand the line it crossed yesterday when Jen Psaki casually said, “We’re flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.” Psaki said “about twelve people” (among them, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.) are responsible for spreading most misinformation. So: Let’s just have a simple public–private crackdown on twelve individuals to get us through this moment of peril, and that’ll be it for this new censorship program, right? We’ll sweep away a handful of bad actors who have lost touch with reality and restore truth to the public square.
Truth, though, is rarely a settled thing. Less than 18 months ago the government-approved truth according to Anthony Fauci was that risk from the coronavirus was “minuscule.” Less than 17 months ago he told us that wearing masks was counterproductive. For a few days in April, the “truth” according to the FDA was that no one should use the J&J vaccine because it was too dangerous. And just two months ago, it was accepted, government-backed fact that the coronavirus could not possibly have escaped from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Facebook labeled anyone who claimed otherwise guilty of propagating misinformation.
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