Discovering Truth

The Cost of Not Pursuing Truth

The Cost of Not Pursuing Truth

Illustration by Harrison Love

This follows-up on my book Discovering Truth, in response to announcements by internet platforms, like Meta, they will no longer rely on third-party fact-checking on content they distribute.

The Cost of Not Pursuing Truth is a call-to-action to address what I and many other communications professionals believe is an existential crisis to America over Truth: how to discern it, who has authority over it and how do we responsibly protect it in our constitutional republic? My focus will be on specific recommendations for our country and actions for individuals to adopt in their day-to-day usage of information in our post-digital world.

This perspective is predicated on the belief that there are four essential components humans need to sustain life: clean air, clean water, healthy/sufficient food and truthful, accurate information that is trustworthy. America has benefited from a time-tested approach that trust in information from media that is enabled by advertising is a responsibility of the media and the advertiser along with acceptable regulatory partnerships. America has succeeded in protecting our first amendment while relying on advertising-supported information/content to be classified as “commercial speech.” Commercial speech is not protected speech. It is speech that has responsibility for accuracy and to not harm its consumers. This has been our success model in every prior media until our, now antiquated , internet policy of 1996.

A Call For Legislative Reform

This calls on the incoming 119th Congress and new administration to operate with a wartime sense of urgency to pass legislation to make media safer. Specifically, to adopt the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act (KOSPA) and to update our antiquated communication policy known as the Communication Decency Act of 1996 (CDA1996). Over the passage of time and advances in communication technology, our communication policies have unwittingly created a cesspool of danger that harms the mental health and well-being of our children, as well as national security.

Through an imbalance in prioritization of profit over public safety, the current policy leaves our gates of information wide-open to our adversaries and nefarious actors. The harm comes from youth-targeted content for illegal drug appeals, bullying, sextortion, ISIS recruitment, antisemitic and other hate speech

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plus life-threatening “Choking Challenges, deceptions and willful lying which propagate our unfettered internet. (For more information see Mother’s Against Media Addiction at www,joinmama.org)

KOSPA has already received Senate approval by a 91-3 vote, but has lingered without presentation in the House of Representatives, a needed step for activation. Our first priority should be to pass KOSPA while renewing policies to help continue our leadership in communications, This would specifically remove the Section 230 exemption for legal liability for advertiser and user content enabled by advertising, mirroring successfully policy with prior media that is also advertising supported. Removing Section 230 will also allow America’s online companies to flourish outside the U.S. where more responsible media practices are already being demanded. Examples are the EU’s Digital Services Act and Australia’s Online Safety Act and banning of mobile phones , tablets, and smart watches in most public schools to improve learning and reduce distractions.

Truth and Free Speech

A key bias in this analysis is my steadfast belief in America’s unique relationship with free-speech through our capitalist orientation to media ownership and oversight. This has been a primary factor in our achievement as a world leader for trust in information, a core equity for the ideal of America. Classifying internet media content as commercial speech, which is not protected speech, as we have successfully done with other advertising-supported speech, is an obvious first step.

Online content in America is predominantly advertising supported and qualifies as commercial speech.

Our history of media innovation tells us those who stoke fear of censorship and threat to freedom of speech are those who are making the most money on the transaction. Oversight of commercial speech requires attention, much of which can be assisted today with advances in artificial intelligence. Some digital platforms have tried to subsist on subscriptions alone, and failed. In fact, a 2024 Statista report indicates Alphabet, parent company of Google /YouTube, generated $238 billion in revenue. This translates to 77% of their overall revenue coming from advertising. The Associated Press reported that Meta, parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, posted third quarter results in which nearly all of Meta’s revenue coming from advertising on its platforms.

The Way Forward

The crisis we face is further exacerbated by recent announcements discontinuing fact-checking by our largest digital platforms. I invite you consider The Cost of Not Pursuing Truth. I trust you will agree policy change is needed to protect our children from the proliferation of harmful and illegal content which diminishes trust in our overall information infrastructure. Trust in information has been a fundamental asset of our constitutional republic, in how our commerce works, as well as how safely we live.

Tim Love

This has been fact-checked via ChatGPT

Work on Discovering Truth commenced when I entered the advertising industry in 1972 and encountered, first hand, the critical importance of truth in persuasion and how necessary this is to sustain behavior change and business success. My perspective is informed by a lifelong affinity for the art and science of advertising and the respect this gave me for the value of truth. Discovering Truth started as a university lecture in 2017 and evolved into a series of 58 podcast interviews with significant thought leaders in the field of marketing communications and academia. The book features 21 interviews under the title: Discovering Truth: How to Navigate Between Fact & Fiction in an Overwhelming Social Media World.It’s available online in an original form that includes my Truth Memoirs about my own relationship with truth and also in an abridged format designed for academic and media literacy education