Now more than ever, I find I am constantly bombarded by ridiculous claims and opinions shared on social media.
These include, but are not limited to, the idea that vaccines cause autism, identifying as transgender is an excuse to sneak into the opposite sex’s bathroom, and that all women who wear burqas are oppressed.
As I roll my eyes and scroll past these posts, I often think back to an article my professor had my class read in university by Patrick Stokes, a philosophy lecturer at Deakin University in Australia.
In this reading, Stokes discusses why he tells his students that they are NOT entitled to their opinion. Here is my favourite quote from his argument that summarizes why he does not let his students use the phrase to defend an argument.
“The problem with ‘I’m entitled to my opinion’ is that, all too often, it’s used to shelter beliefs that should have been abandoned. It becomes shorthand for “I can say or think whatever I like” – and by extension, continuing to argue is somehow disrespectful. And this attitude feeds, I suggest, into the false equivalence between experts and non-experts that is an increasingly pernicious feature of our public discourse.”
In other words, you can’t just fall back on your right to free speech in an argument in order to spew whatever hateful or dishonest diatribe you’re trying to peddle in a discussion. If you cannot back up your opinion on a subject with facts and sources, it should not be treated as, what Stokes would call, “a serious candidate for truth.”
For example, you can’t say vaccines cause autism and then say that it’s your “opinion” when you are disproven by the numerous studies that have been done to show there is no link to autism in vaccines. You don’t have the right to an “opinion” that is not only false but harmful!
It should be noted that not everything can be proven, like my opinion that green is the best colour in the rainbow for example. It depends on the topic of discussion, but some things are certain and can be proven with facts and sources, which should overrule anyone’s “opinion”.
I can understand that it is a common practice to simply ignore these unsettling and inflammatory remarks when you see them because debates can become never-ending on social media and even turn into personal assaults. At least this is why I usually choose to stay uninvolved - but as these posts become increasingly present in our news feeds, I wonder when enough is enough?
If we let these type of posts spread inaccuracies, stereotypes and injustice are we not adding to the “fake news” cycle we hear about all too often?
In fact, it’s my belief that if more people took the extra few minutes to fact-check themselves before posting or sharing information, these type of posts and the essence of “fake news” would greatly decrease.
To be clear, I believe in the right to free speech under our democracy and do not believe in shutting down valid opinions, even though I may disagree with them.
But it is time we start recognizing the line between opinion and fact and that while you have a right to free speech, you have a responsibility to be accurate when using it.
Jordyn Thomson is a reporter for the Penticton Western News.