Ever noticed how terms like ‘misinformation’ and ‘misinformation’ are used to dismiss dissent?
Claire Lehmann, founding editor of Quillette, outlines how the term ‘misinformation’ is used to label contrary points of view, and provides the following examples:
In a fact check published in October last year, Guardian Australia deemed claims about the voice’s legal risks, potential for division and lack of detail to be misinformation. But opinions are not facts, and personal judgment cannot be subject to the same standards of accuracy as empirical claims. And on the topic of the voice, opinions differed.
In a document published by La Trobe University, Challenging Misinformation about Sex and Gender Diversity, Australian academics have described terms such as “biological woman” and “biological man” as “harmful myths”..
In another document published by the University of Melbourne’s Trans Health Research group, a diverse range of claims is characterised as misinformation.
They include linking transgenderism to poor mental health, suggesting that puberty blockers may have irreversible effects or suggesting that a significant subset of young people who do transition may come to regret it later.
Misinformation, according to this health group, also leads trans youth to have an increased risk of suicide. In this case, the use of the term misinformation is being used to foreclose inquiry. The term has been instrumentalised to present hypotheses as proofs.
It’s not only academics who have instrumentalised the term to service their own credo. Federal Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has accused the Coalition of spreading disinformation about nuclear energy.
One journalist for Guardian Australia has accused Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation former chief executive Adi Paterson of “peddling misinformation”. Paterson’s crime? Critiquing the economic modelling of the CSIRO.
According to Lehmann, Labor’s misinformation bill seeks to control public discourse. It is reminiscent of when Labor was last in power and they attempted to regulate (muzzle) the media based on a media scandal half a world away. This is another attempt by government to increase their power over the people and to delegitimize criticism.
Author adminPosted on Categories Human rights
That article highlights crucial concerns about free speech and government control. The potential impact of the Misinformation Bill on public discourse is definitely worth deeper discussion!