Made in Macao | Post-truth or indifference?

Jenny Lao-Phillips

In these two years, we have seen quite a number of books and news articles published on the topic of “post-truth”. Journalists are claiming we have entered a post-truth era ever since the news on Brexit and Donald Trump dominates a large part of both traditional and social media, and are worried about the negative effect of post-truth politics to the effective functioning of democracy. I have read in an article that even Oxford Dictionary has selected the word “post-truth” as word of the year in 2016. This got me thinking, in this part of the world, are we also living in a post-truth era where facts are becoming less influential than emotional appeal? Or have we always live in a world of alternative facts rather than actual facts? Or are we simply indifferent to objective facts?

I believe many of us have notice that most people in Macao got our information from the social media nowadays. Before Facebook, Whatsapp and Wechat, most of us do not give much attention to what’s happening politically or socially. So, thanks to social media, it has given rise to information dispersion. On the one hand it has offered more channel for enhancing public concern on matters relating to our home, but has also given a great platform for spreading rumors. As there is no way for fact checking for us general citizens. How do we know if the information we receive are true or not?

We are so used to forwarding messages about news without even knowing the source, perhaps of the trusting nature of our people, that the idea of fact checking become unimportant. Though on some level most people treat these messages merely as a source of entertainment, we not aware of the danger of creating unwarranted fear, or misleading the public.

For instance, lately, there is wide circulation of the information about jaywalking. The messages indicated that police are hiding in different areas on the streets to catch people crossing the road without following the pedestrian traffic lights. It was even stated that three people have been caught and was penalized for crossing at a red light at Avenida Tamagnini Barbosa. It was my sister who pointed out that there aren’t even traffic lights for pedestrians in the area. So, whoever started this chain of messages obviously missed out one very important fact.

Moreover, a search on local newspapers showed that there have already been similar rumors spread in 2017 about people jaywalking and was fined MOP 200. The rumor was spread so widely that police department had to clarify to the media that there had always been an existing law and the fine was MOP 300. Well, seems like, when it matters, authorities would come out to clarify the “wrong facts” that are spread on the Internet.

Research done by Standford University showed that most young people in the US cannot tell the difference between ads and article, or even between real accounts and fake ones. I wonder if we do a similar research in Macao, what will be the outcome. Even before the post-truth era, we already depended too much on hearsay, and have been indifference to facts and evidence. Even on important matters such as voting decisions are made based on what a friend of a friend of a friend said, or what the candidate, usually through his or her associations, offers to individuals. In a peaceful city like Macao, we have always based decision on emotion rather than facts. So, the ultimate question is, do we believe the truth is out there, or we simply do not care?