A look at the ongoing threat caused by the phenomenon of "fake news" in the U.S., focusing on the real-life consequences that disinformation, conspiracy theories and false news stories have ... Read allA look at the ongoing threat caused by the phenomenon of "fake news" in the U.S., focusing on the real-life consequences that disinformation, conspiracy theories and false news stories have on the average citizen.A look at the ongoing threat caused by the phenomenon of "fake news" in the U.S., focusing on the real-life consequences that disinformation, conspiracy theories and false news stories have on the average citizen.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, two of the people featured in this documentary as perpetrating and spreading disinformation, were charged on October 1, 2020 by the Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel for allegedly operating a voter suppression campaign of robocalls to largely Democratic voters in Detroit highlighting the false claim that the information provided in registering for vote-by-mail would be used for nefarious purposes beyond the requested voting materials.
- Quotes
Self - Berkman Klein Center, Harvard University: Mainstream media needs to understand that it is operating in a propaganda-rich environment. There are no two realities. There is an intentional deception on one side, and there is an honest if imperfect process of trying to get as near to the truth as we can on the other.
"After Truth" explores the origins, spread, and devastating consequences and human costs of fake news and misinformation via interviews with various journalists, political operatives, conspiracy theorists, and real-life victims. Topics include Jade Helm 15; Pizzagate; the murder of Seth Rich; the attempt to smear Robert Mueller; the Doug Jones/Roy Moore Alabama Senate race; Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook Senate hearings; and the fate of psychopathic hatemonger Alex Jones of Info Wars.
Filmmaker Andrew Rossi does a good job of providing just the facts and various people's perspectives who are both Republican and Democrat, without putting his own spin on the events or concepts. His message is one that rings the alarm to warn us of the nefarious and insidious psychological effects of fake news and urges people of all political persuasions to think critically when evaluating information and to fact check using reliable sources before adopting that information as truth and sharing it with others. It shows the devastating costs, the worst of which being the erosion of civil political discourse and human costs such as the pizza restaurant's employees and owner that still to this day receive death threats (and had an armed gunman drive from North Carolina to Washington who stormed the restaurant) all due to completely unsubstantiated and fabricated allegations that started on the internet and was fueled by fear, resentment, and animosity toward the Democratic Party.
Where the film falls a bit flat is proposing an effective solution to fight the circulation of fake news. "Stop using online social media and interact with people face-to-face" is one obvious but unrealistic and impractical proposed solution. "Ensure our populace is better educated and trained to think critically" is idealistic but unlikely to eradicate the problem. The inherent problem, as recognized by Rossi, is that one cannot stop a fake news article from being circulated without serious censorship and First Amendment considerations. The slippery slope argument applies here more than ever, as without free speech and freedom of the press, we cease being a democratic republic and descend into authoritarianism.
I recommend this quick 90-minute watch to those seeking to learn and understand the serious threat fake news poses to our political process, especially with the upcoming presidential election. In the end, it's up to each of us to do our due diligence to determine whether the information provided to us is real or fabricated. We should never blindly trust what we hear on TV, what we read on the internet, or the speech of public figures, especially politicians, and especially politicians who have been objectively proven to have no integrity and no interest in serving the needs of the American people, Democrat and Republican alike.
- maximusthemerciful
- Mar 24, 2020
- Permalink
Details
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color