In 2021 disinformation is poison. Until now, we've made the mistake of shrugging its damage off, as if it has been sort of inevitable. Or maybe we've been pretending that in the new millennium "freedom of speech" now means it's OK to yell, "Fire!" in a crowded theater, when there is no fire ... plus, the one doing the yelling stands to profit from creating a panic.
Willfully spreading disinformation about a rolling national health crisis or a bloody insurrection is not an exercise of freedom of speech rights. It is deliberately injecting pure poison into the body politic.
Consequently, the corporate sponsors of the disgusting Fox News prime time commentary programs hosted by Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, et al, should be boycotted. We need to turn off the flow of money to those programs that are regularly spewing disinformation for profit. And, speaking of those profits, why should any responsible business want to be a party to facilitating the agendas of today's amoral anti-vaxxers and January 6 domestic terrorists.
Disinformation is poison.
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