When Falsehood Beats Reality
On the afternoon of January 6th, many of us spent our time watching a mob break into the Capitol, forcing elected representatives to flee. The scene of a rioter in fur and horns at the Senate dais may look comical, but history warns that farcical movements can become serious threats. The Beer Hall Putsch was mocked in 1923; the Klan's early antics were laughed at too. In both cases, dismissing them early led to tragedy. The same pattern applies to the lies that fueled the Capitol insurrection.
The baseless attacks on the 2020 election results are a clear example. Trump's lawyers filed a blizzard of lawsuits and got nowhere, which proves there was no evidence for the claimed fraud. Yet his denial has created a belief among his supporters that he didn't really lose. That belief will poison society for years. Lies like this have consequences: Muslim Americans have lived in fear due to claims about their disloyalty, and Trump's politicization of mask-wearing is central to America's pathetic covid-19 response. More Americans died of covid-19 on that single day than died on 9/11.
Demagogues Are Symptoms
Trump is not the root cause. In 2016, reporter Zoe Chace was mocked by a Minnesota state representative for questioning his assertion that Dearborn, Michigan is under Sharia Law. Stories like this, founded upon lies, are believed by a worrying number of Americans. When people believe such things, their anger leads them to vote for demagogues and to invade the Capitol.
This is why the problems won't fade even if Trump retires to golf. When enough people hold these beliefs, they elect politicians who pander to them. 139 Representatives and 8 senators voted to overturn the will of the people after the rioters had gone home. Most knew there was no credible evidence of fraud, but their fear of a primary challenge outweighed their oath to defend the constitution. Their actions were worse than those of the mob. If there is any justice, their political careers should be shattered.
These politicians aren't innocent victims of populist ignorance. Senator Cruz may justify his actions by citing polls showing 39% of Americans thought the election was rigged, but it's his actions and those of his allies that generate that belief. Senator Romney outlined the proper course: "The best way we can show respect for the voters who are upset is by telling them the truth."
Consequences, Not Censorship
The primary blame rests on a barrage of lies that has warped reality for many people. Countering it feels like deprogramming a cult. One approach is to visit consequences on those who lie. While free speech must be protected, we must not be free of the consequences of speech. The challenge is designing mechanisms that deter people like Trump without muzzling those who expose corruption. Anyone talking about free speech should acknowledge this difficult balance; if they don't, they can't be taken seriously.
One reliable institution in past crises has been the courts. In the 1920s and 30s, John Brinkley grew rich on a quack procedure implanting goat testicular glands into men. He nearly won a race for Governor of Kansas. He was brought down when he sued Morris Fishbein of the Journal of the American Medical Association for libel. The jury found Brinkley was indeed a quack, sparking a flood of lawsuits that shut his practice down and left him in penury. We can hope Dominion Voting Systems's lawsuits against Rudy Giuliani and others have a similar effect, though civil suits may not cure the broader problem.
The Media's Role
A cult seeks to monopolize information sources, treating outside media as false. Trump's attacks on the media echo those of Nixon. Although one should always be skeptical of media, dedicated figures who avoid simple answers and dig into complex stories exist. Public figures who demonize media wholesale have something to hide.
The claim of a fraudulent 2020 election is a "Big Lie," clearly false but repeated constantly by elites. Those who encourage such lies perpetrate a fraud comparable to Ponzi schemes and quack medicine. They and their enablers should suffer similar consequences.
Social media platforms must take some blame. Algorithms that optimize for engagement don't optimize for enlightenment. Brinkley was a master of radio; the Nazis were skillful media manipulators. We learned then that letting media run free can let lies run ahead of reality. The excuse that tech companies are judgment-free pipes grows threadbare. Publishers are responsible for what they publish, and it's time Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and the like were held to that standard. They do a markedly worse job than the non-profit Wikipedia.
The larger and more influential a media organization is, the more it needs transparent, structured procedures to control the dissemination of lies. Failure should increase civil liability, but government intervention also has a role. If society is injured by media fraud, it should extract damages from perpetrators. The difficulty of doing this while protecting annoying yet beneficial speech should not deter action.
Lies undermine democracy by polarizing people into groups defined by simplistic identities. Social networks already restrict explicit violence, pornography, spam, and copyright violations. Lies should be treated similarly.
