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2022-04-21
Does Free Speech Protect COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation?
This is a story from Standford Medicine's Scope Blog by Sharon Beckstrand. This is an opinion piece on free speech and misinformation as it relates to COVID-19. Beckstrand goes over some of the reasoning some might resist getting vaccinated, such as political beliefs. Some of these beliefs can come from well-intentioned individuals thinking they are spreading good information, or from intentionally misleading sources. Both of these examples are classified under misinformation. The author of this asks: how can the spread of misinformation be stopped without quashing free speech? To get an idea on how the United States approaches this with the First Amendment is though Supreme Court cases. The Supreme Court has upheld that false statements are still protected under free speech. A 2012 case of United States vs. Alvarez struck down a law that made it a criminal offense to lie about receiving military medals, as a false statement is still protected under the First Amendment. Other types of speech are not protected, such as: lying in court, making false statements to the government, impersonating a government official, and defaming someone. Beckstrand lays out some of the dangers that can come from the government trying to police false claims. One thing she asks people to consider is that a scientific statement claimed as false today could be considered verifiable at a different time, especially if it is something that has not been studied yet. Additionally, many do not trust the government to not abuse power when deciding what is misinformation. The article ends by saying that if something becomes politicized, they are more likely to view messages from groups they don't identify with as suspicious, regardless of how much evidence there is to back it up. At the end, Beckstrand closes with saying that if we cannot make sound decisions on how we interact with information, we can't make sound decisions about health. -
0021-01-11
The beginning of COVID
What I first learned about COVID-19 was that it was a flu created by people eating Bats in China. I heard that from social media. But then I heard those rumors were false. Now I think COVID was made by china in a lab to destroy America. -
2020-03-30
SHARE Checklist
This is a checklist published by the UK government as a part of the SHARE campaign, meant to help people evaluate the validity of sources and curb the flow of misinformation related to COVID-19. It is part of the larger "Don't Feed the Beast" campaign pioneered by the UK Government. #HIST4800 *Nicholas Bowers, Bowling Green State University, HIST 4800 -
2020-03-18
News story: Dolphins and swans reappear in Venice canals one week after city locks down
An unexpected upside of the coronavirus - dolphins and swans appearing in the canals of Venice one week after the city's shutdown.