Subject: Re: Schumer's book tour postponed
We used to live in this world where in order to get your message out there, you had to get people who write really well to absorb your message and put it out. And now, we’re in a world where anyone can make a video and if that video is appealing, it’ll get out there. And this is naturally bad for the left, simply because the people who write really well are a lot more left-wing than the overall population.

I think this misses the mark. When people rely on social media for their news, and that "news" can be written by anyone with a social media account without a requirement (or expectation) for fact-checking and verifying sources, then you can't expect people to be grounded in reality. Couple that with the social media algorithms that present you with stuff that will make you happy -keeping in mind that it is not vetted for truth or facts-, and you have an easily-manipulated and uninformed populace.

I know issues of free speech are involved, and I revere free speech, but something needs to be done to hold social media accountable for what is on their platforms. Otherwise, it's just a question of time before we have leaders that dismantle everything, and then rebuild it in their image. Then, there will be really tight controls on speech that would clearly violate the 1st Amendment, but nothing could be done at that point.

I get the irony...we have to find a way to restrict speech that conforms to the 1A so that we can save the 1A from a future "Ministry of Truth". Yeah, 1984 again, but it just seems so incredibly relevant to what we're seeing today.

My only thought about how to approach it is that anyone claiming something is "news" has to show their work. They have to have sources, vet those sources, and fact-check. Otherwise, they cannot use the label "news". That wouldn't restrict "speech", but would put limits on how you can label your speech so others know whether it is news or opinion or something else.