The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has named post-truth as its word of the politically tumultuous year that was 2016.
Post-truth doesn’t mean that truth is no longer important to people, but it does indicate the way we understand truth has changed: ‘Objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.’
Zuckerberg’s defence
Aptly only a few days before the OED’s announcement, Mark Zuckerberg was defending Facebook against charges that fake news was responsible for swinging the US election. Were algorithms disproportionately profiling some ‘news’ articles and suppressing others? There were even suggestions that Russia was hacking the algorithms to influence the result.
As Zuckerberg was issuing statements, a private developer released a tool called BS Detector to red flag fake news. Seeing the red flags many, including a reputable tech website, wrongly assumed and reported that Facebook was now dealing with the fake news problem through this plugin. And then – irony of ironies – the fake news detector itself failed to flag this fake news! The story is a parable of our mixed-up time.
Of course, trust in the media is not a new topic. The problem of spin has been with us for as long as newspapers have been in print. What is new is that we are all journalists now. In the interactive world of Web 2.0 every individual is a media outlet and the idea of editorial oversight seems to run counter to the very freedom the Internet enshrines.
What does this mean for us?
With the proliferation of media sources how do we discern between fact and fiction, policy and propaganda?
A good start would be reflecting on how we have got here. Philosopher Charles Taylor describes this time as the ‘age of authenticity’. We have seen those in authority use truth to constrain and control. In reaction we now emphasise inner authenticity over external truth – ‘being true to yourself’ is more important than conforming to someone else’s ‘truth’.
The thing is, making authenticity ultimate leads us full circle; can we trust ourselves? The first lesson we learn as we seek to know ourselves is that our native emotions and convictions are even less reliable than the first version of Apple maps!
Truth we can trust
If the problem highlighted by fake news is the manipulation of truth, then the underlying first need is a truth we can trust. Here the words of John’s Gospel that we may have heard over Christmas are so resonant:
‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1.14 NIV – emphasis added).
Truth aligned with grace is a truth we can trust, a truth that is there to serve us, not to manipulate us.
Secondly, the Web is a world of words. Whether you are a coder or a user, how can the words and the algorithms of Christians be words of grace and truth? Since we are all content producers now, how can we speak, tweet, blog and post the truth in love – not distorting the truth (about ourselves or the world), but representing it faithfully to serve others and serve God?
Thirdly, discernment is a key part of Christian wisdom that is sorely needed today. It means paying attention, careful evaluation and reflection. In a fast-paced environment we might need to slow down a bit, read more and evaluate, before we dive in with a retweet or a share that exacerbates the problem.
Such questions may be challenging and uncomfortable at first but they come with a promise that is particularly relevant today:
‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ (John 8.31-32 NIV).
