you can’t handle the truth

In an era of “alternative facts”, knowing who and what to believe has never been more complicated. We asked four authors about the lies they tell and the truths they speak

In an era of “alternative facts”, how can you tell what’s the truth – and does it matter?

One of my biggest core values is honesty; telling the truth about life is of the utmost importance to me. Lying is something I try my best not to do, because whatever I say, I feel like I need to be able to stand by it. Plus, to tell a lie is to add something else to my brain’s Rolodex of things to keep track of, and who has the time? I’d rather catalogue senseless pop-culture trivia, like the fact there are 14 actors who appeared in the Harry Potter films who have also been in Game

Of Thrones. You’re welcome. I’m not saying that, from time to time, we haven’t all told a lie. Yes, your son burnt the toast, but you might give him a high five and say it tastes okay to encourage him to try again later. Sure, you tell your best friend her tennis game is getting better, even though she misses most serves. Those are small things and, in the larger scheme, they don’t do much damage. But lying about who we are, what we believe in and the things around us that influence larger systems is detrimental to all of us.

As a writer and culture critic, I’m known for speaking my truth, even when it ruffles feathers. I’m the person who says what people are thinking but won’t say. Like when your really loud aunt who loves Facebook posts a link to a site that isn’t real, and is outraged by whatever “news” it’s spouting. I’m the person who tells her to delete it because it’s not real. People come behind me to co-sign, but I have to be the one to say it first. Or the fact that the makeup trend of contouring has people looking like cartoon villains. A makeup artist tried it on me once, and I promise I looked like Cruella De Vil’s twin. I’m the person who will write an opinion piece about how the world goes to hell in a handbasket because, historically, “good people” have allowed bad people to do bad things.

I’m the person who recently went on a Twitter rant, telling bloggers to speak up when injustice happens, even though it might not fit their “brand”. Why? Because real people are being affected by what’s happening in the real world. Colour me shocked when that simple challenge was met with a severe backlash. Those who felt my appeal was a personal affront called

“IF SPEAKING THE TRUTH, EVEN WHEN THAT’S DIFFICULT, IS BEING A BULLY, THEN I’LL BE THAT” LUVVIE AJAYI, CULTURAL COMMENTATOR AND AUTHOR OF I’M JUDGING YOU: THE DO-BETTER MANUAL

me a bully. If speaking the truth, even when that’s difficult, is being a bully, then I’ll be that. My opinions, although often tough to swallow, are based on consideration of facts and logic, and it makes me uncomfortable to know others do the opposite.

There’s no doubt that social media has helped create this throne of lies we’re sitting on. With the information superhighway at our fingertips, we should be more discerning about what we consume. Google is open 24 hours a day and doesn’t even charge you for parking, but people won’t visit it to get the information they need. Instead, they’ll rely on whatever comes across their social media. The internet has ruined our ability to know what’s real, what’s fake and what needs to be questioned or disregarded. This information is getting just as much consideration as bona-fide news, and that’s the problem. I’ve fallen for fake news in the past, but then I realised I just need to ask myself three questions: is this believable on the most basic level? Is the website reputable? And is this reported elsewhere?

It grinds my gears to see how fast fake news spreads. Every other day, celebrities who are alive and well find out they’ve died via the internet. Do you know how many times Morgan Freeman has been killed by the web? Too many to count. But there are, and always will be, the conspiracy theorists who think Beyoncé had a phantom pregnancy and Blue Ivy was delivered by a surrogate. Or the people who are convinced Elvis Presley is still alive. Those people can’t be helped.

Lies aren’t harmless. We see what happens when people take falsehoods and run with them. At the minimum, it’s annoying. But on a large scale, things like Britain’s EU referendum result and the outcome of the US presidential election actually happened. People allowed fake news to inform their opinions, which had global ramifications that aren’t easy to come back from.

Sometimes, fake news is meant to be satirical. But satire doesn’t just mean “tell a lie and put a winky face behind it”. It’s lazy, and satire can’t be a “get out of truth” card. You can’t use the guise of satire to be libellous, because all it does is remove accountability from someone who’s being irresponsible. Not all satire is bad, but the line between lambasting culture by poking fun with irony and tricking people into believing you’re giving them news is too thin. In this post-truth world, where critical thinking seems to be on a permanent holiday, people have to ask themselves how this loose definition of satire is damaging our world.

So where do we go from here? Start by telling your friends who question nothing to take a stand every time they’re outraged about fake news. And those of us who are truth tellers need to recommit ourselves to speaking up. It might get more difficult, but these are the times when it’s most necessary. We can’t let this post-truth atmosphere silence us, because a whisper of truth still matters in an echo chamber of lies.