My last post talked about bots and bullying. Perrin’s story also talked about how bots affected the democratic process. He mentioned that China was using bots to spread propaganda. This is such a tricky subject. One person’s propaganda is another person’s opinion. Knowing how to discriminate between fact and fiction on the internet is becoming so important. If we swallow whole hog what other’s say, without examining the source and the probability of truth, we are allowing ourselves to be controlled.

There was a time, when people were influenced by those in positions of power to vote according to their desires. If your livelihood was dictated by someone else, they could dictate how you would vote or loose your livelihood. Thus the secret ballot.

The internet poses a similar problem. There are people who have no scruples about sowing disinformation or out right lying to reach their goals. In some cases they think the ends justify the means, but it is for their ends. To make an informed choice you have to have facts, real facts. Sifting fact from fiction is a skill which can be learned and which we must learn if we are to live in a world we want.