ACHTUNG: The following is not a “fair and balanced” story. It is an editorial by the editor.
“I’ve seen the men, sir. Gawd, I wish I hadn’t.” — The Bonzo Dog Band, “Keynsham,” 1969.
I watched the PBS Independent Lens special earlier this week, “The Cleaners,” an examination of the people who work for Facebook and determine what we get to see and what we don’t get to see.
At first, I was appalled that a chosen few are tasked with censoring material that comes to Facebook, which many believe should be a free-wheeling service to enable to see, hear and read everything that’s out there, all across the world. Upon further review, I came to the conclusion that someone has to separate the wheat from the chaff and some disturbing images and material indeed are unsuitable for mass consumption.
Facebook is a daring journey into a bold new world of information, but a strong case can be made that technology is operating at breakneck speed, way ahead of rational thought and basic human values. Science fiction writers often have come to that conclusion in their work now for many decades.
When I took the plunge to join Facebook in 2012, at the insistence of former colleague Shelly Sulser-Kehrle, I quickly realized that this newfangled social media really did connect me with many people far away, but it also was plagued by garbage. In fact, not long ago I posited that more than 95% of what I see on Facebook is indeed garbage, but there is that other 5% that can be invaluable, particularly for an on-line community newspaper.
So it becomes my task in what I do to separate the wheat from the chaff, and before I use the material, I must have a solid understanding of the source.
I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago while describing a reconnection with Rhoda Irvine, a piano music teacher who lived in Wayland and passed away in 1980. I also recall Facebook’s indispensable help in learning the identity of a murder victim because her high school teacher posted information that was was as good as authorities and more readily available.
But it is very painful to watch the PBS documentary that makes a solid case for at times reigning in free speech in the interests of human decency and privacy. The “Cleaners,” for example, showed how they keep graphic images of beheadings and child pornography from being published on Facebook.
I suppose there are times I would like to see censorship of the plethora of phony memes that spread lies like cancer. I see destructive lies distributed for political and personal gain, but I don’t have a way to put a stop to it… and who made me God?
I have developed a policy for my personal Facebook use. If someone posts something offensive, but it’s only an opinion, I let it go. Opinions are like assholes, everybody’s got one. However, when I see a post that seems to be a flat-out lie, an attempt to spread the cancer of deliberate misinformation, I often challenge it with the likes of Snopes or FactCheck.
Invariably, too many posters then respond to my response with something like, “You don’t believe Snopes do you?” and “How can you be that naive? Snopes is fake news.” As if I should believe their outrageous assertion instead of a fact-checking service.
Then I proceed to delete them as “friends.” I don’t need to waste my time on those who will make outrageous claims and then laugh at me for challenging their assertion. They suck the life out of me. And I’ve got enough stress in my life.
