Fighting Deliberate onLine Falsehoods, with Whose Truths?

by MIKOspace

Singapore has begun public hearings by a Parliamentary Select Committee into Deliberate Online Falsehoods. After a few days of hearings, the emergent motherhood consensus is that deliberate online falsehoods can fracture and rapture social trust to the extent as to injure public safety and harm social order should they lead to pervasive and destructive civil disobedience.

I have underlined and emphasized the word “deliberate” so as to highlight its vague distinctions with “unknowing” or “unconscious” types of online falsehoods.  Admittedly, these apparent distinctions are rapidly lost in various intellectual and semantic translations.    

Misinformation, half-truths and fake news are in fact not new.  We are surrounded by all forms of fake and false information in advertisements, man-made religions, philosophies, news articles and public relations spins. Official censorship together with the ideological control of the news and publishing media are also propaganda serving specific and particular power and economic interests.    

According to The Oxford English Dictionary, the new word for 2016 is “post-truth”.  It refers to the existence of “alternative” truths. Whither therefore the status of “deliberate falsehoods” in the internet era of “post-truths”?

The sobering truth is that all information is “deliberate” falsehood and partial-truths to varying degree. Indeed, many would even challenge this statement itself as “deliberate” falsehood and a half-truth!  And they would be neither wrong nor right! Even as I strenuously state it with the sincerest of conviction and belief!  To me therefore, it is a fully true statement. And it also does not matter to me if you should consider it a falsehood. 

Indeed, what difference does it matter? Herein lies the challenge in the war against “deliberate” online falsehood. If you don’t believe it, then don’t.  If you believe it, then own it and make it your very own!

In The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli’s advised that “… he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived.”  To Machiavelli, the people are simple-minded, naïve and gullible, and therefore can be easily manipulated all the time (by those who have the power to do so). [italic words added are mine]. Indeed, Machiavelli of course could not be more wrong or right.

With today’s Internet, Google, Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp … etc, we can expect unpredictable hysteria by the “naïve, gullible and simple-minded” at a greater speed and with dire public safety consequences.  Facebook has boasted of its active influence on the Arab Spring.  Both Facebook and Google do not however agreed to any restrictions or ban on the posting of partial truths, falsehoods and fake news. Quite understandably, no social media has the credentials to assume the role as a Truth-Watcher or Gate-Keeper on the Internet.

Every computer or mobile phone is a microphone for anyone who has something to say or write truth to the rest of the world. Indeed, no legitimate voice should be silenced, but it is arguable as to whether every voice should deserve equal air time on the proverbial social media microphone. The opportunity to be heard and thereby to influence is not a natural inherent birth right. Concepts, opinions, perceived facts and thought belong to the marketplace of ideas and innovations in the highly contested space of social reality.  Whatever and whichever prevailed are socially filtered and constructed through a process of mental and cultural construction that differentiate “falsehoods” from the applicable and practicable truths. Unfortunately, this truth-making process is often corrupted and interfered by crooked and less honourable people in positions of power.           

Action Sensors on onLine Falsehoods

It is not within the capability and capacity of the Parliamentary Select Committee into Deliberate Online Falsehoods (PSCDOF), nor does it has the wisdom, competency and moral aptitude, to recommend and define the parameters of the vast arrays of applicable and practicable truths for the diverse Singapore population.

There are three (3) Action Sensors to evaluate whether corrective actions are necessary on alleged online falsehoods. The Action Sensors are (1) Content; (2) Context; and (3) Consequences. They are inter-related to be considered together integratively.  

Content

A mere statement or publication, however disagreeable or objectionable, does not render itself sufficient to be chastised or proscribed or punished. Since most information is incapable to be absolutely 100% true, partially true information likewise cannot be regarded to be totally false. The absolute truthfulness of statements and publications may often be irrelevant to those who find them objectionable or disagreeable.

This is obviously true with regard to any information pertaining to religious beliefs, traditions and practices held by believers or regarded by nonbelievers. Absolute truth is totally immaterial and irrelevant to believers and nonbelievers.

Within science in the disciplines of medicine, physical and biological sciences, there are also wide disagreements over theories, models and methods and which in turn provide the motivation and momentum for further research and their innovations.  Social sciences clashed repeatedly over the validity and reliability of their predictions, findings and theories.      

As long as the contents of statements or publications are within the permissible bounds of applicable defamatory, libel and slander laws, there should be no basis for any punitive actions.

Context

The context of disagreeable or objectionable statements or publications is an important factor to understand the motivation and purpose of their author(s).    What is known regarding the degree of intellectual acuity and their respective depth of technical knowledge in the subject(s) expressed or written about?  What audience or readers are addressed by the authors? Are the purposes personal, educational, political, social, economic and/or casual conversational?  Is the context closed or opened, referring to whether the statements and publications are intended for named individuals or a defined specific group or for the unspecified public?  A careful assessment of the context is critical to adjudge and infer whether the author(s) intend to cause chaos and mischief, harm public safety, denigrate self-respect, destroy self-esteem, entertain, educate and/or informational.            

As long as there is no intention to disrupt social harmony or harm public safety, vigorous debates and conversations among well-informed and knowledgeable individuals in deeply divisive subject matters such as politics, religions, history, traditions and personal preferences, especially where one has the freedom to choose to enjoin, rebut or leave the discussions or debate, there should be no need for any interference by government officials or state authorities. 

Consequences

When the conflation of content and context resulted in damaging the social fabric of harmony, increased religious and racial tensions, disrupting social peace and harm public safety, enforcement actions are not only necessary, they are vital to restore peaceful social order. This is however applicable only in genuinely democratic societies. The strength of democracy does not however require the prohibition of falsehoods, but in their counter arguments and vigorous rebuttal where they matter.

Ironically, in freely democratic elections, the amounts of misinformation which deploy deliberate online and print falsehoods often multiply to overwhelm the voters.  Examples from the USA, UK, Europe and neighbouring nations require no elaboration.

However, to advocate by insisting on absolute truthfulness during elections is disingenuous and naïve. It is also a no-brainer proposition. Internet accessibility drives the momentum of both volume and quantity of information and misinformation.  Just as misinformation, half-truths and fake news are part and parcel of daily human society, they are also indispensably integral for many politicians during elections to grab and win the benefits of power and privileges.  

Use IoT to Manage onLine Falsehoods 

A non-partisan infrastructure comprising a mix of local and foreign election watchers with security enforcement powers is needed to assure that social peace is preserved and public safety maintained at a high level during and between the election periods.

The key in the effective management of online falsehood is NOT the utopian promotion of truth.  It is in the control and minimisation of the negative disruptive consequences of less-than-truthful information that matters. The following four (4) strategies using Internet-of-Things [IoT] can create a favourable impact:

[1] Technology

Eliminate anonymous internet postings.  Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Social Media owners eg Facebook, Twitter, Instagram … etc must maintain registration of the valid and legitimate names of their subscribers who want to access and be accessible from Singapore.  This would also include any websites who allow feedback and comments on all things Singaporeans. Web-site and social media owners shall be held legally and punitively responsible for harm and damage to individuals and public safety.

[2] Education

Develop a high level of debating skills in our students, including critical thinking and independent thought.  Regular research and essay writing on contentious subjects, field trips, followed by presentations and questions from peers, teachers and visitors would help to reduce students’ simple-minded gullibility and naivety.  

[3] Public Discourse

Promote regular public forum to encourage debates and critical discussions on interesting subject topics, and to learn the etiquette of mutually respectful conversations.  This would also raise the quality of comments and debates on the internet.

[4] Legal and Regulatory

Without anonymity, online actors who choose to cause social chaos and mischief, harm public safety, denigrate self-respect and destroy self-esteem of individuals and communities should face the full extent of incarceration and other legal punitive measures.

Freedom is our noble and privileged foundation to secure for ourselves, our children, our grandchildren and fellow Singaporeans the right to speak and write truth to power and the world. Every Singaporean should be educated to know and understand that they should not pre-digest any opinion unthinkingly, and they should not gullibly swallow everything that come through the internet and social media taps.  

Read, listen and research everything of relevance and interest; question all but believe none of them; and arrive at your very own conclusions. There is no other victorious way to combat deliberate online falsehoods.  

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Tiger without his father

Tiger Woods has returned to play competitive golf again. He more or less disappeared, lost, for almost a decade after the demise of his father. Tiger Woods was in supreme form when his father was alive and guiding him with a firm hand. Tiger Woods was unbeatable with his father standing beside him like a pillar of strength.

The day his father passed away his game collapsed. He was lost. He destroyed everything he had, his family, including himself. His discipline life was in a mess. And so was his game. He fumbled and stumbled and lost not only his top world ranking, but could not win a competition henceforth. His sickness also took a toll on him. His back was crippling him.

Everyone who knew Tiger wrote him off completely. Tiger Woods without his father was a hapless child. He needed his father badly to bring his game back but everyday seemed to confirm that his glorious days were gone, game over.

A fortnight back in the Valspar Open Tiger Woods almost won. He came in second, losing only by a stroke. The Tiger that everyone wrote off is back and in contention. His return to golf and playing to win is most welcomed by the golfing world.

Tiger Woods has rediscovered himself. Tiger Woods has changed and found himself. He is now a man of his own. He has proven that he can win without his father. He has stepped out of the shadow of his father.

A Tiger Woods that can triumph over himself and play on his own merit, without the need for his father’s presence would be more fearsome and even better than before.
The new revived Tiger Woods is going to take the world of golf all over again as a new man. More victories would come his way. There is nothing more formidable than a man who is his own man and can win on his own steam, without his father watching over him.

Tiger Woods is the man.

Sergei Skripal – The Russians did it?

The evidence is crystal clear, beyond any doubt. The Russians did it. This is just like the sinking of the Choeonan, the killing of Kim Jong Nam, the sarin gas used by Assad. It is like the murderer deliberately left behind the murder weapon with his name carved on it.

The clearer and more obvious the evidence, the more smelly is the plot. Are the Russian intelligent agents so amateurish, fumbling and did not know how to wipe their mouths after eating? These are professionals, highly trained killers. Only the West, in this case the British, would want the world to believe the Russians are fools and committed a murder in broad daylight with evidence to tell the whole world they did it.

How many of you really believe that the Russians did it? How many of you believe Kim Jong Nam was murdered by the North Koreans? How many of you believe Assad would use sarin gas to attack his own people when the Americans and the West are putting him under a microscope? How many of you believe the Choeonan was sunk by the North Koreans and not by the Americans?

This is standard black ops 1.0. But not to worry, many of the unthinking would jump to conclusion without knowing that the ideas were planted in their simple minds to believe in what they read in the reputable media, with clear cut evidence that the Russians did it, the North Koreans did it, Assad did it. The reputable main media never print fake news, only the truth after many rounds of checks and confirmations!

Talking about fake news? Who is producing fake news? Remember WMD in Iraq, with information from the world’s top intelligent services in the USA and UK and France. And with their Presidents and PMs all believing in them and telling the whole world to believe in them. Then what was the truth eventually? Many dafts still insisting that Saddam Hussein had WMD and would not believe in this American and western lie. They refused to talk about it.

Who fabricated the false information on WMD? No, it is true? Saddam Hussein had WMD!
Sergei Skripal was a double agent that was exchanged for other Russian agents caught by the British. His score was settled, many decades back. There is no reason for the Russians to want to kill him any more. The plot was to kill him, after all he is no longer useful to the British anymore, oops, at least for one last time, to be killed and to put the blame on the Russians.

Strange, not true? What is benefiting from this wicked hoax and who is the victim? Russia or Britain? Did the British lose anything other than a useless Russian double agent? What has the Russians to gain from this killing of a historical non entity and with their names carved on the murder weapon?

Think, don't take things at face value, especially fake news from the main media and govt sources.

Americans are the darlings of Asean leaders

The Americans are in hot pursuit of Najib's crime in the 1MDB case. The Indonesian govt has helped the Americans to seize the hundred million dollar yacht, Equanimity, supposedly owned by Jho Low and with everyone knowing who is the real owner. The hounding of Jho Low is just a distraction from the main victim, Jho Low is only a front runner for you know who.

I am not sure why the Indonesians would lend a hand to do the dirty work for the Americans as if it is abiding by the American Law, that it is also a state of the USA, against the interest of fellow Asean leader.

The Americans are also deeply involved in the overthrow of the Duterte regime and many Pinoys are listening to their colonial masters and sharping their knives to stab into Duterte's back.

Aung San Suu Kyi is also on the hair cross of the Americans. Her removal is only a matter of time. She is a hot target in Canberra when the Asean leaders met with the self appointed white Sheriff of SE Asia.

So is Hun Sen. The Australians are using the Meeting to attack Asean leaders that are not little USAs or American cronies using human rights as the weapon. Why aren't the Asean leaders counter attack the Australian white Australia policies that are still in force under different guises? The Australians have been practising racism against Asians for centuries to keep Australia white and the natives in their black hole.

Aung Sang Suu Kyi, Najib and Hun Sen should also skip the submit unless they are willing to be slammed by the white supremacists in Australia acting as the agent of the evil Empire.

With the American hands everywhere meddling with the domestic politics of Asean countries, would Singapore also do their bidding to gang up against the North Koreans? Singapore has not made any official statement on this but the Americans have already said so.

What is certain is that these foolish Asean leaders would go on their bended knees to have a chance to be invited to the White House to have a meal with the Emperor and would be so happy and proud of the invite. Even Najib would be very pleased if the Emperor were to send him an invitation and he would go ga ga and forgot about the 1MDB persecution and the millions he has lost. And all his merry men would be hysterical if invited to an aircraft carrier and would do anything the Americans told them to, even thinking of starting a war with China.

The silliness of the Asean leaders for not being able to tell a devil standing in their face is in their DNA. The Americans could screw them everyday and they would still go running when the Americans say fetch. When would Najib or his deputies be like eager beavers queuing to be invited to the White House? When would the Pinoys be bowing down to the Emperor and offering their land as American bases again, to be the colony of the Americans? When would Thailand and Myanmar do the same? When would the Indonesians also crawl to the White House when beckoned?

Oops, I for got to include Thailand's Ocha also being attacked by the Americans for his military rule. The Americans have forgotten that Thailand provided them the military bases to attack Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Come to think of it, only two or three Asean  leaders are not being attacked by the Americans and its cronies.

Why would Asean think it appropriate to have a bilateral meeting with a country with a population less than Malaysia as if it is really a big power? This is really disgraceful.

A deep distrust with the PAP government – and the time to think, act and vote differently

“We have a greedy and insecure Govt that hoards, amasses wealth for its own good. And with a deluded and deceptive syndrome (like a bee in your bonnet) that “there is never enough”, backing reasons like “country with no natural resources” and citing policies “to benefit the poor and marginalised”.
Really! We have gone pass that years ago!
 
As long as we have our uncles and aunties cleaning toilets, floors and tables in the food centres when they should be enjoying the twilight years, and the complete contrast of high ministerial/public servants salaries, how do you account for that or even justify? Where is the improved livelihood?....
 
There is now a deep distrust with the pap Govt. It’s time for us to think, act and courageously vote differently at the ballot box.
 
We must stop the self-deluded and self-destructive excuse that there ain’t enough talent in Singapore, or in other political parties other than the People’s Action Party (PAP). 
We are Singaporeans, all the same, no different from the other.
 
Observe closely. We have a Law/Home Affairs minister who continues to conjure up every conceivable law to police our country with its intention to police our minds. Where is this directive from or is he acting on his own?...”
James Martin Aruldoss

The above appeared in TRE. This sense of distrust is growing while those in power are oblivious to it. They did not see anything wrong with what they are doing. They cannot see anything wrong with their compulsory schemes to rob the people of their CPF savings in ‘profit making’ insurance schemes. I will continue to say that the compulsory schemes are ‘profit making’ until the govt comes out to state categorically that they are not and all cumulated funds collected that were not paid out would be returned to the contributors to the compulsory schemes. It is morally unacceptable and wrong to use the law to compel the citizens to buy compulsory insurance policies that are ‘profit making’ in nature.
 
These are not the only things they could not see wrong. The flooding of the island with millions of foreigners to steal the jobs of Singaporeans and forcing many Singaporeans out of job is good for the people, provide jobs for the Singaporeans, so they claimed. They don’t care. To them the PMETs losing their jobs is normal, acceptable and they are to be blamed. To those who lost their jobs, their families suffered with them.
 
The wasting of tax payers’ money to fund foreign students in our tertiary institutions is robbing the people’s hard earned money, paid as taxes, to benefit foreigners that have nothing to do with us. This too they could not see anything wrong with it. The sum spent is not just hundreds of millions.
 
The bullying of opposition politicians to them is being very clever, listen to their clever arguments. The people are saying you know what to such childish antics. They could not see anything wrong with it.
 
And some jokers even asked how to regain trust of the people! The jokers that cannot understand what is wrong with what they are doing to the country and people would surely not find the answer. Please forgive them for they know not what they are doing. Ignorance is an excuse and good reason to forgive.
 
The thing is that the trust will get thinner and thinner if they refuse to look at themselves and the big hole they are digging for themselves. I have read in the social media saying that some day some may be put behind bars when a new govt comes to power. How true would this be would depend on how the new govt uses or abuses their power to deal with their political enemies. What goes around would come around. The govt must not set bad precedence for future govt to follow. Future govts can behave like thugs if they think they could get away with it.