| SURGEON GENERAL MURTHY:
We have 160 million people who have been fully vaccinated. And hundreds of thousands of people each day are choosing to get vaccinated. That is all good news.
But we are not out of the woods yet. Millions of Americans are still not protected against COVID-19, and we are seeing more infections among those who are unvaccinated. And that’s why I want to talk to you today about one of the biggest obstacles that’s preventing us from ending this pandemic.
Today, I issued a Surgeon General’s Advisory on the dangers of health misinformation. Surgeon General Advisories are reserved for urgent public health threats. And while those threats have often been related to what we eat, drink, and smoke, today we live in a world where misinformation poses an imminent and insidious threat to our nation’s health.
[OCS: It’s worse than that, misinformation poses an imminent and insidious threat not only to our nation’s health but, even more importantly, to our freedom and liberty.
And, unfortunately, the great preponderance of false and misleading information originates with those in the government who are pursuing a political agenda, those propagandists in the mainstream media who are crafting political narratives, and those who rule the search and social media platforms that are actually censoring the news or directing our attention to political propaganda.]
Health misinformation is false, inaccurate, or misleading information about health, according to the best evidence at the time. And while it often appears innocuous on social media apps and retail sites or search engines, the truth is that misinformation takes away our freedom to make informed decisions about our health and the health of our loved ones.
[OCS: Truth does not evolve from the government, the mainstream media, or social media platforms, it arises from the competition of ideas where pros and cons are freely discussed, and individuals can make up their own minds and course of action. In the case of medical information, consulting one’s personal physician who knows more about your particular medical condition than anyone in the government.
How many contrarian opinions have been labeled as misinformation, disinformation, or a conspiracy theory – only to be proven right at a later date. And with little or no comment or apology from those who got it wrong?]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, health misinformation has led people to resist wearing masks in high-risk settings. It’s led them to turn down proven treatments and to choose not to get vaccinated. This has led to avoidable illnesses and death. Simply put, health [mis]information has cost us lives.
[OCS: Consider the fact that there is a difference between the type of mask and how it is worn by medical personnel and first responders handling sick patients and what is occurring in the general population where the use of ineffective and ill-fitting masks have not been statistically validated in any large-scale study using the public. Even certain Covid-19 tests are suspect.
Few people have rejected “proven treatments” that are administered in a hospital setting. And, the government has gone out of its way to suppress anecdotal evidence or small-scale studies of potential low-cost remedies such as Hydroxychloroquine therapies or Ivermectin.
Those who choose not to get vaccinated are exerting their inalienable right not to be molested by their government. Specifically, being forced to take medications that have not been thoroughly tested, have only conditional approval, and no informed consent is being offered.
And, then there are the mainstream media turning each death or issue with offered therapies into headline news, amplified and repeated endlessly in the 24/7 news cycle. Scaring the crap out of people. Were President Biden and Vice President Harris right to reject the vaccine when it was associated with then-President Donald Trump? What about all of the celebrities, media talking heads, and social media influencers?
Given the general status of an individual’s health and co-morbidities; who can say illness and death may have been avoidable? Especially when the hardest hit cohorts of senior citizens were killed by government policies that demanded that Covid-positive patients be admitted to nursing homes? ]
Now, health misinformation didn’t start with COVID-19. What’s different now though is the speed and scale at which health misinformation is spreading. Modern technology companies have enabled misinformation to poison our information environment with little accountability to their users.
[OCS: Again, one could accuse the Biden Administration of using misinformation to poison our information environment with little accountability to their constituency. I am still waiting for politicians and bureaucrats to be held accountable for their criminal actions – much of which involved pushing propaganda via leaked disinformation. I remember when people said the same thing about radio and then television.]
They’ve allowed people who intentionally spread misinformation — what we call “disinformation” — to have extraordinary reach.
[OCS: “They” – and this implies the media moguls and tech tyrants who are often responding to a political agenda or implied government dictates. Everybody is now capable of publishing their stories in the town square and around the world. It is up to well-educated and well-informed individuals to separate the wheat from the chaff and appropriately apply it to their own situation.]
They’ve designed product features, such as “Like” buttons, that reward us for sharing emotionally-charged content, not accurate content. And their algorithms tend to give us more of what we click on, pulling us deeper and deeper into a well of misinformation.
[OCS: “They” did not invent sensationalism or the saying, “if it bleeds, it leads.” “They,” like all institutions, are seeking to expand their audience and influence. If pushing what is capturing interest and trending, then that’s what they will do.]
Now, we need an all-of-society approach to fight misinformation. And that’s why this advisory that I issued today has recommendations for everyone.
[OCS: This implies, incorrectly, that there is one true version of something, a trusted source of this truth, and that everything else needs to be curtailed in reach or censored. This is un-American, period!]
First, we include recommendations for individuals and families. We ask people to raise the bar for sharing health information by checking sources before they share, to ensure that information is backed by credible, scientific sources. As we say in the advisory, “If you’re not sure, don’t share.”
[OCS: You mean credible sources like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the chief medical advisor to the president? A known liar and dissembler that is a human weathervane reacting to the political winds?
As for science, consensus is not a scientific process; it is a political one. Science is always changing, and well-educated, well-experienced scientists have differing opinions and hypotheses. The truth is not exclusive to hand-picked scientist/politicians, the media, or government bureaucrats. It is part of an adversarial process where competing ideas are tested and applied to specific situations.
And, as for self-censorship, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one, and it is their inalienable right to share it with whomever they please. Including the world, if they wish!]
Second, we’re asking health organizations to proactively address misinformation with their patients. Today, the American Academy of Pediatrics is announcing an educational campaign to help parents navigate online health information. I’m encouraged to see this commitment. And, again, this is just the beginning.
[OCS: The American Academy of Pediatrics is a progressive political organization that believes every political agenda item is a matter of public health. Physicians do not have a monopoly on the truth – especially outside of their area of expertise.]
Third, we’re asking educational institutions to help improve health information literacy.
We’re asking researchers and foundations as well to help us learn more about how health [mis]information spreads and how to stop it.
[OCS: Most of today’s educational educations no longer believe in academic freedom and free speech. They have become progressive indoctrination mills pushing a communist agenda.]
Today, the Rockefeller Foundation is announcing a $13.5 million commitment to counter health misinformation. The Digital Public Library of America is announcing that they will convene a set of librarians, scholars, journalists, and civic leaders to confront health misinformation together.
[OCS: The Rockefeller Foundation, much like the Soros Foundation, is a hotbed of radical progressive thought that openly fights against conservative viewpoints and anything which does not advance their radical progressive agenda. Imagine using a robber baron’s funds to defeat the very economic system that allowed him to amass his fortune?]
Fourth, we’re saying we expect more from our technology companies. We’re asking them to operate with greater transparency and accountability. We’re asking them to monitor misinformation more closely. We’re asking them to consistently take action against misinformation super-spreaders on their platforms.
[OCS: Here is the government asking private industry to deny you free speech, something which the government is prohibited from doing under the United States Constitution. The tech tyrants can no longer claim freedom from lawsuits or hide behind the First Amendment. They have become agents of the government – coerced by ideology, contracts, grants, subsidies, tax relief, and monopoly positions.]
Fifth, we’re also asking news organizations to proactively address the public’s questions without inadvertently giving a platform to health misinformation that can harm their audiences.
[OCS: Censoring comments and pushing government propaganda. How un-American is this, especially since the press is given a special place in the Constitution?]
And sixth, we know that government can play an important role too by investing in research, by bringing individuals and organizations together to address misinformation, and by supporting groups that are working on this issue.
[OCS: Institutionalize propaganda and its dissemination.]
<Source>
Confronting Health Misinformation: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on Building a Healthy Information Environment Advisory - PDF |