After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News

Seeing the fake news machine do their work blatantly on camera doesn't surprise me at this point.... what scares me is that a lot of Americans will watch this and chalk it up to "poor editing". Don't get me wrong I'm not fond of politicians in general. But this last 4-5 years has been a turning point in our history. We have shown the government that they can get away with anything. And we can thank Russia for that. Let's keep up with these nonsensical conspiracy theories while they keep screwing all of us in ways the average American can't comprehend.

The American education system is a totally failure. Half of the American population is so easily to be manipulated by certain people with illogical way of thinking. They are so naive to be manipulated and so easy to be mouth fed by fake news created by certain ideological extremists. Some of the fake news creators are completely depending on what they sow daily over their radio programs or particularly by a specific TV News. The so-called Fake News, if I remember correctly was appeared and spread like wild fire across America since 2016. The "Fake News" creators actually created Fake News on a daily basis. It was used by a guy on the Twitter to discredit any news that were not to his favor, anything not good to him would be tagged as "Fake News" by him. The No.1 Fake News creator has since divided America into two parts. He uses Fake News to polarize the naive Americans, creating a cult like belief that if anything and everything he doesn't like or not in his favor IS FAKE NEWS. Before this guy appeared, I never thought America got so many rednecks with guns. They are waving American flags to show that they are the true patriots, they love and care about America more than those who don't wave the flags or hold guns. These hotheads don't believe anything that was not from or certified by the fake news creator. They don't believe science, they don't trust anything from the other side of the aisle if they don't carry the same political color like them. The result: America has the largest number of death from COVID-19. They even believe if they wear MASK would only mean the loss of their FREEDOM. Fake News is the weapon of certain politicians to fool the poorly educated Americans, it's also how certain people make their living by creating and spreading them.

I'd like to disclaim that I am a U.S. citizen who does not identify as either Republican or Democrat. I also do not get my news from any TV networks. If you believe Trump is an ethical and honest person, or if Fox News and Info Wars are your only source of "news," or if you are not prepared to recognize the fact that the majority of misinformation and fake news originates from international sources (mostly Russian) and domestic white nationalists, then you will not enjoy this documentary that addresses perpetrators on both sides of the political spectrum.

"After Truth" explores the origins, spread, and devastating consequences and human costs of fake news and misinformation via interviews with various journalists, political operatives, conspiracy theorists, and real-life victims. Topics include Jade Helm 15; Pizzagate; the murder of Seth Rich; the attempt to smear Robert Mueller; the Doug Jones/Roy Moore Alabama Senate race; Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook Senate hearings; and the fate of psychopathic hatemonger Alex Jones of Info Wars.

Filmmaker Andrew Rossi does a good job of providing just the facts and various people's perspectives who are both Republican and Democrat, without putting his own spin on the events or concepts. His message is one that rings the alarm to warn us of the nefarious and insidious psychological effects of fake news and urges people of all political persuasions to think critically when evaluating information and to fact check using reliable sources before adopting that information as truth and sharing it with others. It shows the devastating costs, the worst of which being the erosion of civil political discourse and human costs such as the pizza restaurant's employees and owner that still to this day receive death threats (and had an armed gunman drive from North Carolina to Washington who stormed the restaurant) all due to completely unsubstantiated and fabricated allegations that started on the internet and was fueled by fear, resentment, and animosity toward the Democratic Party.

Where the film falls a bit flat is proposing an effective solution to fight the circulation of fake news. "Stop using online social media and interact with people face-to-face" is one obvious but unrealistic and impractical proposed solution. "Ensure our populace is better educated and trained to think critically" is idealistic but unlikely to eradicate the problem. The inherent problem, as recognized by Rossi, is that one cannot stop a fake news article from being circulated without serious censorship and First Amendment considerations. The slippery slope argument applies here more than ever, as without free speech and freedom of the press, we cease being a democratic republic and descend into authoritarianism.

I recommend this quick 90-minute watch to those seeking to learn and understand the serious threat fake news poses to our political process, especially with the upcoming presidential election. In the end, it's up to each of us to do our due diligence to determine whether the information provided to us is real or fabricated. We should never blindly trust what we hear on TV, what we read on the internet, or the speech of public figures, especially politicians, and especially politicians who have been objectively proven to have no integrity and no interest in serving the needs of the American people, Democrat and Republican alike.

"After Truth - Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News" (2020 release; 94 min.) is a documentary about the recent (as in: last 5-6 years) phenomenon by (mostly) right-wing conspiracy theorists to purposefully spew falsehoods onto social media. As the film opens, we get to know Jack Burkman, right wing consultant who looks at the use of "fake news" as nothing more than one would look at the use of chemical weapons in time of war: "it's there to use, it doesn't mean I like it". We then go to "2015, Bastrop, Texas" as Washington Post journalist Elizabeth Williamson talks about how local conspiracy nuts create a media frenzy claiming that US military exercises are just a front for imposing martial law and rounding up political opponents... At this point we are 10 min. into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from veteran documentary-director Andrew Rossi. Here he examines the rise of "disinformation" (translation: falsehoods) being launched onto social media and what it does to society, The documentary focuses on several specific incidents: Bastrop, TX (2015), "pizzagate" (2016), Seth Rich's death (2016), and the smearing of Robert Mueller (2018). All of it is sure to make your blood boil in disgust, if not anger, as we watch how (mostly) right wingers cynically use and abuse facts to twist a "new" or "alternative" or outright false truth that suits them politically. The great thing about this documentary is that it isn't a one-way street, but instead it lets both sides of the story give their view/version, and the viewer can deduce his or her own conclusion. Along the way, Rossi and his team also examine how technology platforms like Facebook and Twitter enable these manipulations while standing by. And then this dilemma: should the left join the frenzy and spew their own falsehoods? As someone laments: "Do you win by playing their game?" "Two wrongs don't make it right", offers Alabama Senator Doug Jones.

"After Truth" premiered on HBO in late March, and is now available on HBO On Demand and other streaming services. If you have any interest in politics, or simply in understanding how falsehoods come about and influence society, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion. I myself found it to be must-see TV.

Disclaimer: I'm European and I only read quality newspapers, both domestic and international. Sorry, I prefer specialist experts over self-proclaimed investigators.

That being said, I have a few friends who believe in multiple conspiracy theories. I see them sucked deeper into the rabbit hole everyday. Strangely enough, they present me with 'proof' of these outlandish theories (articles and videos), that, as it turns out, come from abroad, mostly USA and Russia. So this infowar is affecting the rest of the world also, slowly but surely.

Russia's tactic is simple: "Divide et impera" In the USA the tactic it's less clear: false news is being spread to discredit people, influence elections or just to make money.

In the documentary some guy says 'it's a war'. I don't understand: who are you fighting against? Another political party?

This documentary shows the consequences of spreading lies, and the effects are devastating. I nearly fell off my chair. Fake news, alternative facts, conspiracy theories, trolling, clickbait... This divisive messages are undermining the democracy in the USA. A country which could achieve anything if only they would work together, all politicians. Now they are bombarding each other with smear. Happens elsewhere too, but not in such a nasty way... yet..