MINOT — After decades of writing about politics on the internet, I’ve become something of an expert when it comes to dealing with trolls and malicious debaters.
There’s a trick to it. Let me illustrate it with an anecdote.
I recently wrote in a column that it is crazy to believe that vaccines cause autism. As you might imagine, this claim received a lot of replies from people who claimed that the link between vaccines and autism is real.
With the support of trusted sources around the world, let me state clearly and unequivocally that vaccines do not cause autism.
You can actually trace the origin of the myth. It started when a British man named Andrew Wakefield published a study claiming a link. It later emerged that Mr Wakefield had been paid to produce the study by a group of lawyers who were seeking to discredit the MMR vaccine by intentionally altering the data to achieve the desired results.
It was a scam. Sadly, millions of people are still affected by it. How they perpetuate this falsehood can be overwhelming.
For example, one of the respondents to my column challenged me to debunk his claims. “Can you show me proof that what I am claiming is not true?” he asked.
Here’s the thing (and this is something to remember the next time you find yourself confronting some crazy person in a heated social media thread): It’s up to you to refute their claims. It’s not a problem.
I’ve long been a fan of Christopher Hitchens, the British author, journalist, and speaker who advocated this epistemological razor to deal with the wild claims of people who are confidently and belligerently wrong. I did: “What can be claimed without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.”
You have no idea how much this will help you.
If someone says vaccines cause autism, it’s their responsibility to prove it. If they say Donald Trump won the 2020 election, they should show the results. The burden of proof is on the person making the claim, not the skeptic.
Certainly, there are limits.
There are various “influencers” on the internet who claim to have evidence to support just about every stupid thing you might want to believe, from the idea that a powerful Jewish secret council rules the world. There is a wealth of content, if not more, created by enthusiasts and enthusiasts on the idea that Winston Churchill was actually the bad guy of World War II.
Ask a lunatic for proof of the dangers of vaccines, and the zone might be flooded with YouTube videos by chiropractor freaks using the dubious title of “doctor” to weigh in on issues far beyond their area of expertise. .
One of the great aspects of the Internet is that anyone can communicate with the public. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the worst aspects.
Ours is a time full of deception, sometimes carried out by insane true believers, but equally by some despicable people who try to make money by taking advantage of the gullibility of others. It’s often promoted, but I’m optimistic. Eventually, our cultural autoimmune system will adjust and become less susceptible to the machinations of prolific social media scammers.
Until then, remember Hitchens’ razor.
Rob Port is a news reporter, columnist and podcast host for Forum News Service with extensive investigative and public records experience. Covers politics and government in North Dakota and the upper Midwest. Please contact us at rport@forumcomm.com. Click here to subscribe to his Plain Talk podcast.
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