This is mob thinking, pack thinking. There are no specifics. They have been given someone to hate and their reptile brains are rejoicing in the rush of rage. They try to out-hate one another, coming up with ever more vile suggestions. 2/10
But if you were to ask why they hate the PM so much, would they be able to offer any specific answer based on fact? Or would their answers be vague, based on outrageous conspiracy theories propagated by alt-right online sites? 3/10
It's a sociology paper ready for writing. Now, if a researcher could get a peek into some of these people's browser histories, what do you suppose they would find? Rebel? Post-Millennial? Canada Proud? Proud Boys? Or any of the other far right sites popping up? Not CBC. 4/10
Not BBC, or the Guardian, or even the Washington Post. Probably Fox News, PragerU, maybe a Sun paper. When people only access one point of view it becomes what they believe is reality. It's very hard to convince the indoctrinated to look at facts that counter their beliefs. 4/10
They have been taught to not believe what the other side says. "The Devil will tempt you with pretty lies". The people responding to this post and so many others like it, have embraced a worldview that is more fiction than reality. 5/10
And it is the sites that spew misinformation and propaganda that are responsible. Inciting people to call for the murder of an elected official, another human being, far surpasses the permissible bounds of freedom of expression in civilised society. 6/10
The media and information we consume shapes how we see and react to the world. To promote false stories, to skew information to change the way people think, to make them hate, is not only morally egregious, it is dangerous. 7/10
Something must be done to curb the flow of falsehoods and venomous rhetoric from these sources. It helps not at all that mainstream media like the foreign-owned PostMedia empire, are reinforcing the messaging. They dare not lie so blatantly, but they do not correct. 8/10
This campaign of misinformation is not random. It's not even a few people's opinions. There is an agenda. They seek to move the Overton window to the right, bit by bit. This makes far-right thinking more palatable and normalises perspectives that would have been appalling... 9/10
Only a short while ago in Canada. There are established journalistic standards. If things are reported as news, the outlet presenting it should have to provide verification. If they cannot, they should have to post bold disclaimers, indicated the site is only for entertainment. X
