I don't know whether this is genuine. If these tweets even exist, do they represent the views of a real Trump supporter. And even if this is genuine, does it matter that one Trump supporter looks dangerously inconsistent? What conclusions, if any, am I justified in drawing from this? Should I be comforted because my low opinion of Trump supporters in general is corroborated? What should I now feel?Presented without comment. pic.twitter.com/UaPNVHBw8o— Ed Button (@edb87) November 10, 2016
I know how I might go about resolving some of these doubts. But can I be bothered? I could spend all day fact-checking, but I have a proper job.
The point is that the 2016 US election was dominated by this kind of material, on both sides. Of course we are all sometimes tempted to take some of this material seriously, and to scorn the material from the other side. But if you want to propagate some controversial material, you have a moral duty to hesitate - am I being seduced into fanning some false flames?
This morning, for example, I wanted to tweet something about President-Elect Trump's phone call with South Korea. But I wasn't prepared to trust the first story I saw, so I didn't tweet anything until I found a Reuters story that confirmed it. Of course, it may still be untrue, but I'm glad I checked.
See also Daisy Christodoulou, How Fake News Spreads (Twitter 14 August 2020)
Related Post
The Pursuit of Truth (Dec 2016)
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