I remember hearing the story told… that when cameras arrived in the Western Hemisphere, many Native Americans avoided having their photos taken because they feared the camera would “steal their souls”.
Now that science has greatly advanced our knowledge of the universe, we’ve come to realized that this is entirely true.
What many people refuse to realize, however, is that all modern computers are fitted with cameras that are running all the time. Same goes for smart phones.
But President Joe Biden wasn’t talking about soul-stealing last week, when he offered his opinion that Facebook and the rest of the social media demons — yes, I am calling them demons — are killing us.
From CNBC, last week:
Asked what his message was to platforms like Facebook regarding COVID disinformation, Biden said “They’re killing people.”
“I mean they really, look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated, and that’s — they’re killing people,” Biden said on the South Lawn of the White House.
I guess technically, the President wasn’t saying that Facebook is killing everybody. Only certain people, the ones who are listening to their vaccine-denying ‘Facebook friends’.
I personally don’t have much first-hand knowledge about the current situation, because I haven’t visited my Facebook page since it became clear that many of my high school friends — people who I really, really liked — have become Democrats. Which is to say, they have had their souls sucked out.
Which is worse? To be killed by Facebook vaccine-deniers? Or to become a soul-less Democrat?
Because those seem to be the only real options.
Apparently, the President made his statement, about Facebook killing people, following earlier comments from White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who had told reporters the Biden administration was flagging problematic Facebook posts that spread misinformation.
“We’re dealing with a life or death issue here, and so everybody has a role to play in making sure there’s accurate information,” Psaki said. “[Facebook is] a private sector company. They’re going to make decisions about additional steps they can take. It’s clear there are more that can be taken.”
“We are regularly making sure social media platforms are aware of the latest narratives dangerous to public health that we and many other Americans are seeing across all of social and traditional media.” Psaki highlighted a “false narrative” that claims COVID vaccines cause infertility. (See my column about sperm parameters in yesterday’s Daily Post, for an insightful report on that question.)
Personally, I’m past the age where I worry about infertility, and I suspect most of our Daily Post readers are in the same boat. I would rather worry about other things. There’s only so much worrying that can be accomplished in a 24-hour period, especially if you are a person who likes to take a nice long nap in the afternoon.
The President later tried to walk back his comments, by explaining that the “misinformation” rampant on Facebook was coming from “twelve people”. The President was apparently referring to study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit that studies extremism. The Center had linked a dozen expertly-operated, algorithm-savvy Facebook accounts to spreading the majority of ‘vaccine disinformation’ — and thus discouraging people from getting the vaccinated.
“Facebook isn’t killing people. These twelve people are out there giving misinformation, anyone listening to it is getting hurt by it; it’s killing people,” Biden said. “It’s bad information.”
Why the President wanted to give these “twelve people” free publicity, in all the major news outlets, I have no idea.
The noted English playwright Oscar Wilde once wrote, “The only thing worse that being talked about, is not being talked about.” And Mr. Wilde should know a thing or two about being talked about. Along the same lines, some people will claim that “any publicity is good publicity.” I tend to side with Irish writer Brendan Behan, who famously said, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary.”
Which brings me back to my central point.
Except that I can’t remember, now, what my central point was. Because my soul has been stolen, by Facebook.
How to get it back?
Maybe that was my central point. Surely, if you have somehow managed to stay alive through a global pandemic, there must be some way to recover your soul after it’s been stolen.
I will have to ask Siri.