Battling disinformation
The newly established Disinformation Governance Board to protect national security by combating foreign disinformation is a small step toward the right direction. As our world is being destroyed by disinformation, any attempt to manage this crisis should be welcomed.
The wild news fiasco of the 2018 Big Island volcano eruption is a good example of how easy it is to create an illusional reality. The news media blew everything out of proportion and without fact checking. After those inaccurate news stories repeated themselves for a few months, the rest of the world firmly believed that people on this island were all threatened by running lava, breathing toxic air, and the island was going to explode at any moment. Even the senseless news of “raining down gem stones” was reported by several news media outlets.
My out-of-state friends and relatives were overwhelmed and submerged in inaccurate news. I had a very hard time trying to convince them that the reality was quite different.
In that event, there were no known motivations from financial or political interests. The news media just wanted to irresponsibly catch some attention. When disinformation is motivated by political agenda, things are a lot uglier.
There are three things I learned from that ridiculous news comedy:
1. It was a clear indication that the so-called “press integrity” was already all gone. They are merely businesses who would do anything for profits.
2. For those who do not know any better, the media could make them believe anything the media want them to.
3. In that eruption case, we (the people on the Big Island) did know better. But, that was an exception. In almost all other cases, we really do not know any better. And we could easily be manipulated.
Until there is a way to get disinformation under control, I am treating all news reports as those ridiculous eruption news reports. Before I take any of them seriously, I would try to find as many reports from different perspectives as possible. Otherwise, I would be just as much a fool as those who stormed the U.S. Capital on Jan. 6, 2021.
Lo-Li Chih
Keaau
Ban the walkers
As a lifelong resident of the Big Island, I have been down into Waipi‘o Valley numerous times. It has always been a scary road, but in recent years it has become even more terrifying, not because the road is any more degraded than usual, but because too many people are using it!
On a trip into the valley less than a year ago, our truck could barely get by because of what seemed like hundreds of walkers on the narrow road, some so exhausted they made little effort to move out of the way of vehicles.
I do not believe the road should be closed to Hawaii residents, but I do believe it should be closed to walkers.
Mandating walkers to use a shuttle bus would go a long way to solving the problem, and should be able to easily pay for itself by charging a small per-person fee. Additionally, perhaps allowing only those with valid Hawaii driver’s licenses to drive into the valley would help as well, as tourists often don’t know how to drive on this dangerous road.
Helie Rock
Hilo