Be it persuasion or coercion there certainly will be a bloodbath when it comes to the internet and its infringement on your First Amendment rights. More often than not social media news feeds are flooded with purposefully misleading headlines, manipulated data, and aggravated content which is further dividing the country.
The following headlines are not only misleading, they manipulated millions of Americans.
- New York Times: “Trump Says Some Migrants Are ‘Not People’ and Predicts a ‘Blood Bath’ if He Loses”
- CBS: “In Ohio campaign rally, Trump says there will be a “bloodbath” if he loses November election”
- NBC: “Trump says there will be a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses the election”
All three of these headlines likely caused outrage on the left and the right side of the aisle. Most people who saw them probably shared without reading. For those of us who did click after your moment of rage was over, you helped keep the lights for several outlets but these are all horrid excuses for headlines.
Something more neutral would have been the following “Trump: There will be ‘bloodbath’ if China is allowed to sell Mexico-made cars in US.” This headline gives the context and informs people on what President Trump is talking about instead of cherry-picking a phrase to outrage readers.
President Trump did no favors for himself by attempting to defend his comment. He clearly learned nothing from his first term in office because the media took his defense out of context (again). In the aftermath of the ‘bloodbath’ remark, the right-leaning Media Research Center [MRC] released a report with proof of “election interference” by Google.
MRC claimed the search engine interfered with elections in at least 41 instances since 2008. A separate report from AllSides Media also found the aggregator to be left-leaning when providing search results. Similar data and evidence culminated earlier this week when the Supreme Court heard arguments on if the Biden Administration violated the First Amendment in its battle against “misinformation.”
The case, brought on by Louisiana and Missouri, is looking to limit communication between the Federal Government and social media platforms. Specifically, the states want to prevent aggregators from being persuaded or coerced into pushing a specific narrative. If true both states’ allegations would violate First Amendment rights but what they don’t take into consideration is complacency on the internet.
Habitually distorting facts is why America’s trust in the media is so low. While there are new reports telling us aggregators, like Google and social media, manipulated content perhaps the Supreme Court arguments are wrong. Perhaps the SCOTUS Judges are not asking the right questions. Instead of asking if these outlets were persuaded or coerced by the left the Court needs to ask if they are complacent.
Willingly manipulating content people see does not infringe on First Amendment rights. If Google, Facebook, X, et. al. all roll over and say, ‘Yup we were complacent. The government didn’t tell us to block posts. However, we did it on our own accord,’ there is no case. Being complacent is a part of free speech. It’s how news moguls like William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer were able to keep their newspapers alive, they supported and endorsed political sides. The difference today is one can no longer escape political ineptitude because of our growing phone addiction (brought on by social media).
Your cellphone is a drug and not the fun kind you took at Woodstock ’99. Scans have shown the part of your brain that lights up while using social media is the same part of your brain that lights up when people take cocaine. Science also proved your cell phone is not just an addiction its changing the human brain. We no longer have to retain information because it’s always a tap away in our back pocket.
Like the casino, social media makes time evaporate and it gives the illusion of choice. The media has swiftly changed to adapt their editorial models to better fit the ‘SEO’ framework for aggregators. It is not an accident, it is purposeful and makes you parrot talking points instead of developing your own thoughts and ideas.
You can not save everyone and sometimes stupid should hurt. Right now stupid decisions are hurting Americans every day. From poorly written headlines (because outlets need clicks and shares to survive) to the possible complacency of social media and even the necessary drug to survive modern-day America is looking more like a dystopia each day.
“Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else,” George Orwell 1984. What is reality for the right is a fallacy for the left and what is reality for the left is a fallacy for the right. The longer we depend on aggregators and the internet the less reality exists because our minds will become less and less capable of independent thought. With less independent thought lies can easily become the truth.
Krystina Alarcon Carroll is a news media columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
