Noam Chomsky On Fake News And Post-truth

While fake news is  not new, it has recently become a tool for post-truth politics. Post-truth politics consists of subtly distorting reality to change people’s perceptions and opinions. Fake news causes these disruptions to go viral through the media. Read more about what Noam Chomsky has to say about fake news and post-truth.

Post-truth is a new name for an old friend: propaganda. Propaganda has always been a way of creating half-truths that don’t really relate to facts, but end up being believed by more than a few people because they’re constantly repeated.

As a political activist against neoliberalism, Noam Chomsky views the post-truth as worrisome.

Emotions and post-truth politics

According to Chomsky, the quality of life has declined in recent decades as a result of the neoliberal policies of the United States and the United Kingdom. The truth is that many people experience a mixture of anger and fear that eventually turns into mistrust and escapism.

The recent immigration surplus, for example, has increased feelings of hatred, xenophobia, revenge and frustration with living conditions. Thus, the closer those ‘truths’ are to the current feeling, the more widely they are accepted. People want to believe anything that satisfies them instead of relying on evidence and facts.

Mass media, social media and lies

Prejudice has been a force of nature since the dawn of time. That is why Galileo, for example, had to abandon his ideas. However, in our present times , this has taken on a whole new dimension thanks to the power of mass media and social media.

Fake news can go viral in seconds. There are many tools to make this news seem real. There are also ways to fake images or sound bites.

Fake news and post-truth

For Noam Chomsky, however, post-truth is not limited to politics. There are many other distorted realities related to economics, psychology and lifestyle. In terms of economics, Chomsky claims that all consumers are systematically cheated. 

Take cars for example. When you are about to buy a car, do you look for information about it? How is the car in reality? Are there independent sources that can explain what the car is like in real life?

Chomsky believes that people today feel lonely and helpless. So there are psychological ideologies that promote individualism. Your problems are now yours alone. They are seen as private matters that each of us must deal with alone.

In these present times you must pay attention to the philosophies of the past. Don’t rely so much on the internet and all the information you come across. Each of us has a responsibility to distrust new ideas and prevent mediocrity from going viral.