Who’s going to trust Theresa May to tackle ‘fake news’ when her Tories are responsible for so much of it?
It would be better if the following was fake news, but apparently she means it:
Theresa May’s government is set to respond to the scourge of fake news with the creation of a “rapid response social media capability” in Whitehall itself.
Based in the Cabinet Office, the team will be tasked with dealing “quickly with disinformation” and reclaiming “a fact-based public debate”.
Who is going to accept Theresa May‘s word on what is fake news?
She and her Tories are responsible for more of it than anybody else in the UK.
If you don’t believe me, consider this:
Experts have slammed a Conservative minister for “peddling fake news” to defend an “indefensible” government policy. And the politician also stands accused of “wilfully deceiving” parliament in the process.
Victoria Atkins is the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability at the Home Office. Part of her remit is drugs and drug policy.
Release is the UK’s “centre of expertise” on drugs and drug laws. And it took Atkins to task via its Twitter account over her comments on Drug Consumption Rooms [DCRs] during a debate on 17 January.
Niamh Eastwood from Release told The Canary: “Atkins’s comments in this debate were simply staggering. She did not present the evidence for drug consumption rooms accurately – she was wrong on the number of DCRs in Spain and she was wrong about the basis for Insite, Vancouver’s DCR, remaining open. The EU’s own monitoring group on drugs supports the evidence base for DCRs, as does the government’s own expert advisers. Yet the Minister seems to have unique knowledge implying that the evidence basis is not strong.”
This example of a minister lying about hard evidence on a topical subject is just the latest we’ve seen. There are many more.
Another example would be James Cleverly’s lie about Labour’s tax plans, which provoked this reaction:
NeeeNaw NeeNaw… #QuickResponseFakeNewsUnit to the rescue !!!
Tsk Tsk
Not very big or #cleverly really is it.
— Cathy 🌻@[email protected] (@NarcAware) January 21, 2018
This Writer agrees with Labour MP Angela Rayner:
PM to authorise a response unit that will "stop the spread of fake news"? Who will head up the new Tory propaganda unit that will root out and expose fake news? A first step might be to stop her Tory HQ, Ministers&her own MPs from spreading fake news but that will never happen 👎 https://t.co/fo7fsCVHWe
— Angela Rayner 🌹 (@AngelaRayner) January 21, 2018
This is not an attempt to ensure a “fact-based public debate”.
It is a bid to hijack the news and turn it into Tory propaganda.
Who are you going to believe if you aren’t given a choice?
Tories hate the freedom of speech employed by the social media. They see this as their opportunity to end it. And they think the people are too stupid to realise they’ll be filling our newspapers and other news media with lies.
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I am emitting a very loud and long horse laugh at the idea of the Tories combating “fake news.” That, I think, would be bolting the stable door long after the steed has bolted for the sunny uplands where the unicorns live along with the blind ogre, Brexshit.
Who’s going to trust Theresa May to tackle ‘fake news’ when her Tories are responsible for so much of it?
Ahhh there’s the rub.
There is nothing more subjective than ‘TRUTH’. There is no universal logic, there is no universal ‘TRUTH’ in human affairs. What edicts like May’s are designed to do is ensure that the perceived truth of one small set of frightened, lost, aimless human beings trying to work out their place in an indifferent Universe becomes ‘received wisdom’ or ‘accepted insanity’. And used to spread the same fear, loss and aimless existence of those people who perpetuate it.
Yet another Tory bid to “mould” the news in their favour. Corruption and dishonesty is what they’re all about.
Rapid response and Government just does not and will not gel especially if defending their own many lies ….. maybe they will just stop issuing their usual false propoganda on the basis they will be constantly correcting their lies……in very small print on page 9 of course
This is a ruse to blatantly shut down genuine sources of information, the whole mass media peddles Fake News, which is why I rarely watch the BBC
News anymore, and stopped buying so called newspapers long ago.
When it comes out we just need to mirror the structure they put in place and turn it back on them when they tweet or post their fake news stories.