Four years ago, Donald Trump became President. His campaign was one that revelled in the counterfactual, following arguably his first foray into mainstream politics with his racist claims that Barrack Obama was not an American citizen. Overnight, the world became familiar with the phrase that has defined not just his administration, but the global context that we currently find ourselves in. “Fake news” is king. Mainstream news media has been consistently attacked by governments around the world. Social media has allowed for the propagation of disinformation as effectively at it has democratised access to real facts.
Fake news as a concept gained popularity around 2016 and was quickly adopted by Donald Trump in his unhinged rants aimed at media outlets such as CNN, Time, The Washington Post, The New York Times, and basically anyone else who said something he did not like. In 2017, he shut down a CNN reporter’s question by asserting “you are fake news”. In 2018, he even hosted the “Fake News Awards”, where again, CNN featured heavily. On the 28th May 2020, a CNN reporter was arrested by armed police whilst reporting on the Minneapolis protests that emerged in response to the murder of George Floyd in cold blood by a Minnesota police officer. Several other journalists have been targeted in the days since. This escalation was far from without warning, but it adds a new dimension to the violence targeted at African-Americans that suggests there will be an even less apologetic, more openly antagonistic police response to these protests than to the last major unrest in 2014/15.
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| George Floyd and his murderer Derek Chauvin. Photos: NY Times. |
Coming just weeks after heavily-armed white militia entered the Michigan state capitol in protest against coronavirus lockdown measures, the murder of George Floyd understandably has led to a public outcry. How does a group of white men wielding assault rifles and wearing combat fatigues get to go home to their families after occupying a state building, whilst an unarmed black father of two, suspected of forgery (after allegedly using forged documents and a counterfeit $20 note to order food at a deli) is condemned to die with a knee on his throat? 6 years after the death of Eric Garner, which helped spur the Black Lives Matter Movement, another black man died at the hands of a white policer officer after uttering the final words “I can’t breathe”. They are two of many. The outrage felt by millions over this systemic racism and brutality has spilled out into protests before, but the Trump administration's complete disregard for the concerns of protestors, and Trumps tacit support for white supremacist groups in his rhetoric has given rise to a new anger that his government will be incapable of quelling.
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| Armed white protestors pictured in Michigan a few weeks ago, protesting the coronavirus lockdown, seen wielding assault rifles, some displaying confederate flags and even swastikas. Considered less dangerous than an unarmed black man accused of forging a check. Currently at home with their families. |
Protests broke out almost immediately across Minnesota, and with the announcement that criminal charges would not be brought against the four officers involved (Derek Chauvin has now been arrested in response to the outcry), these protests continued to gather steam and riots broke out. In this moment of crisis, President Donald Trump appeared to take to Twitter to advocate for the use of lethal force to restore order, stating “when the looting starts, the shooting starts”. Aside from the obviously sinister undertones of that statement, and the similarly racist use of the term “thugs” to describe the protestors, Twitter determined that this tweet in particular breached their rules because it glorified violence - a finding that it is impossible to deny. However, this, along with another spat about Trump’s fake claims regarding mail-in ballots that Twitter pointed out were untrue and required fact-checking, has led the President to sign an executive order attempting to prevent Twitter from adding these warnings to his absurd and dangerous tweets. Pointing out that basically everything the President tweets to the world is untrue is, according to Trump, an attack on his free speech.
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| Some of the Tweets that Twitter deemed in violation of their rules |
This coming from the administration that has just arrested a CNN reporter for covering a major news story that portrays the police and government in a bad light.
Lie in order to spread doubt over the democratic process for the upcoming election. Lie to demonise a rightly angry population. Lie to protect your power, and lie to allow the lying to continue. Accuse those who are trying to bring the truth to light of being “fake news”, and then incite violence against them. These are the actions of man who is eroding democracy. These are the actions of a fascist and a dictator.
How can we hold governments to account, when we do not know what the facts are?
We have access to more information that at any point in human history, which means we also have access to more disinformation than ever before. Increasingly, authoritarian regimes and liberal democracies alike are leaning on the confusion caused by this overwhelming amount of data to strengthen their political positions.
So, let’s get some facts straight.
George Floyd was murdered by a police officer who had had several previous accusations of racism brought against him. In response, angry protestors took to the streets. Those protests escalated to riots following a heavy-handed police response. And Donald Trump took to Twitter to incite violence against an angry, disenfranchised, and oppressed section of US society. He branded those who disagree with his white supremacist, inflammatory rhetoric as “fake news”. He praised those in his supporter base who threatened journalists, political opponents, rights campaigners, and anyone else who dared point out his ignorance.
US citizens continue to be murdered on the streets by a police force that is supposed to protect them. Reporters, attempting to tell the story as it unfolds, are arrested. And, regardless of reality, if what you say contradicts the President, you are wrong.
Trump would have you believe that there is only one reality, one truth, and it’s the one inside his head. Do I really need to spell out where that sort of thinking ends up?
The truth still matters. And we have to defend it.
Learn how to counter disinformation here:
Find out more about protecting the rights of journalists, and support real freedom of speech here:
Donate to help cover the legal fees on the Minnesota protestors here: https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/donate
