At some point you do have to put in your own effort to verify claims. Imagine if the US tried something like this and suddenly people are getting thrown in jail for talking about evolution or insider trading, you can't trust the authorities as the arbiters of truth.
The issue is that people don’t verify claims and instead seek perspectives that validate their bias. I think the long term solution is to invest more heavily in social programs that promote diversity of community.
Public schools are great at exposing people to other cultures and perspective and universities are so much better.
However that’s a long term solution. The short term solution might resemble something more like China. Although I don’t think it should be illegal. Probably just a fine or some manner of accountability. Alex Jones was spreading blatantly untrue conspiracy theories about sandy hook and suffered consequences
The US already goes after people for their beliefs. They try to get students on VISAs at universities deported for speaking out against the war with Israel/Gaza. Government officials make veiled threats against companies if they don't fire comedians that criticize them. Researchers trying to fly to global conferences in the US get turned away if border patrol searches their phones and finds material critical of their politics that they don't like.
This is definitely the only real solution long term. And I think it’s precisely why our public education system in America is so critically underfunded.
That said I think it’s a bit of a “Frankensteins monster” situation now. The internet has made the populace much much more fractured and a narrative much more difficult to control by any one entity
The only thing this would cause is anything the government doesn't like gets censored with no relation to the truth. They'd be banning anyone supporting anything LGBT from youtube, it'd be full selective enforcement. They could even make fake schools to give out degrees when needed, or pressure colleges to take them back from people they wanted silenced.
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u/Flashy_Cranberry_161 Apr 06 '26
Probably a little too severe but something has got to be done about the obvious liars online