Assignment Paper

Fake news spreads 6x faster than accurate news on Twitter, and falsehoods are 70% more likely to be
retweeted.” [MIT, 2018] Also consider from The Social Dilemma:
“Film subject Justin Rosenstein says, ‘You look over at the other [political] side, and you start to think, ‘How
can those people be so stupid? Look at all of this information that I’m constantly seeing. How are they not
seeing that same information?’ And the answer is: they are not seeing that same information.’”
Do you think it’s important for everyone to have the same set of facts? How do you apply the truth to what
you believe if you’re getting manipulated versions of the “truth?” (Let’s face it, the truth doesn’t always
support our opinions. For example, The 1619 Project is filled with historical inaccuracies according to
historical scholars but it has been lauded and promoted by cultural critics who also acknowledge it isn’t
historically correct – even the New York Times, who launched the work, redefined it as a “longform journalism
project” to “reframe” American history. Of course, there are misrepresentations of history – both U.S. and
world – from every possible political perspective). What’s the danger in everyone not being presented with the
same “facts” but instead being given information that feeds their political or social preferences? (175 word
minimum)
Social media tech gurus are being called up to testify in front of Congress for intentionally censoring
information they don’t agree with – in other words, they’re being accused of using their incredible power to
push their own political agendas. Should social media companies be allowed in a free society to control
information in this manner? How dangerous is that to free speech and the Marketplace of Ideas concept?
How dangerous is that to truth itself? (175 word minimum)
IMPORTANT: YOU MUST SUPPORT YOUR ANSWERS TO THE ABOVE TWO QUESTIONS WITH SPECIFIC
REFERENCES TO THE FILM, THE SOCIAL DILEMMA, TO RECEIVE FULL POINTS FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT.