Is free speech and critical thinking really possible with social media and digital news?

“If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools.”

Rudyard Kipling

Critical thinking. You read it in almost every course syllabus. You hear it on almost every serious show and podcast. But what is critical thinking? Etymologically, to criticize means to judge. So, critical thinking would be the action of forming a judgment about an event, person, idea, argument, etc.

To form a properly balanced judgement, especially on a foreign topic, we need facts.  But if we consider the speed-of-light pace of modern life, where we’re assiduously bombarded with “breaking news” and drama, then there is little time left to properly gather facts and critically scrutinize them. We, thus, often rely on experts for their opinion and analysis.  These pundits have, quite reasonably, biases and agendas.  You might, for example, read in a prominent liberal newspaper about President Trump’s latest shenanigans.  The columnist, whose job is to persuade the masses, will pull every trick in the book to make his piece persuasive. Indeed, if he is worth his salt, by the end of reading you will be more favorable to his agenda, even though you might not recognize it. To read both sides of the argument and then conclude is the ideal way.  But how realistic is this?

Then there are the social media.  Facebook, Twitter, and other social media have become self-proclaimed bastions of free-speech. And in the face of it, it makes sense: everyone with an internet connection can post or share an opinion about everything and anything.  Yet when the process isn’t as transparent as it seems, or as it claims to be, then social media quickly become a swamp of bogus news and malign misinformation.  Should one, then, avoid social media? No. That would be an acceptance of defeat. Rather, one ought to understand the danger and thus be in a better position to respond and think critically.

Here at NEWSREP we have and will continue to publish stories that highlight foreign interference in public discussions and international events.