2021 is off to a great start! tRump has slunk away to Mar-Largo; Pres. Biden is taking bold steps to undo the most egregious of his predecessor’s cruel policies; QAnon is losing some believers due to the absence of ‘Q’ predicted violence at Biden’s inaugural; and tRump’s impeachment trial is moving forward, despite the fact that he can’t seem to attract or retain a competent legal team that is willing to lie about the 2020 election results to Congress.

All of this is wonderful news, warranting a significant lifting of the dread that has been on our collective shoulders for the past four years.

And yet, the landscape has forever changed.  Outrageous Right-wing conspiracy theories continue to threaten our national discourse and Democracy.  GOP lawmakers, even those that briefly relocated their spine on Jan. 6^th, are now dismissing and minimizing the events of that day–preferring to absolve everyone involved of any consequences under a self-serving guise of ‘moving on’.   At the same time, many of those same lawmakers continue to give fuel to the Big Lie: That the 2020 election was rife with fraud; behavior that is the exact opposite of ‘moving on’.    

Why won’t the Big Lie die?  Why do so many people continue to believe that 45 actually won the election, despite all the facts, evidence and lost court cases?   I have two friends whose husbands have fallen into this particular Conspiracy Theory ‘Rabbit hole’, believing that tRump actually won.  Their wives (my friends) are aghast. These are good, decent and intelligent men.  How could they be so thoroughly duped like this?   Lately, I have been reading about and pondering that question.    

The Big Lie and other Conspiracy Theories flourish on Social Media. Adherents are like video-game junkies, wherein the gamers themselves write the story — stories that get traction and credibility as they are repeated and elaborated upon by their fellow gamers/theorists.  It appears that no theory is too outrageous or bizarre to get traction. (Jewish space lasers anyone?) No actual evidence or facts are required to gain adherents for their bizarre logic-bending conclusions.  The anger of the conspiracy theorists literally feeds on itself, creating huge conflagrations of misinformation-fueled anger and rage.  As one my friend’s husband has said “If so many people believe it, it must be true”.

Herein is the dilemma.   Our founding fathers most certainly had not envisioned the Internet or the emergence of Social Media: trolling wasn’t a thing in 1776.  Where are the limits of Free Speech?  Why is Hate Speech protected?  Why are trolls allowed to harass, threaten and belittle with impunity? Why are debunked and outrageous Big Lies and Conspiracy theories allowed to prosper and grow? 

I understand the dilemma of Big Companies like Facebook or Twitter being the arbiters of what is and is not protected speech.  Yet, in their efforts to stay neutral, they have enabled and empowered the bullies, trolls and conspiracy theory whackos. How do we enable a SAFE platform for sharing ideas and opinions that also incorporates common sense oversight? 

These are tough and necessary questions for scholars smarter than myself or Mark Zuckerberg.