John Kerry said the First Amendment is a “major obstacle” to combating misinformation and combating climate change.
The former secretary of state participated in a World Economic Forum panel discussion on green energy on Wednesday. Near the end of the panel discussion, a member of the audience asked what could be done to combat disinformation about climate change online.
“You know there's a lot of discussion going on right now about how to rein in these groups to make sure there's some accountability for facts and stuff. But look, people. If you're only going to go to one source, you're going to go to that source, sick, you know, with a purpose, the First Amendment while they're spreading disinformation. is, as you know, a major building block to eliminating it from existence,” Kelly said.
John Kerry answered a question about the problem of online misinformation about climate change. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
“So what we need to do is win ground and win the right to govern by winning enough votes to be free to implement change,” he continued.
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Kerry also suggested that this is a problem unique to democracies.
“The disgust and anguish about social media is only going to get stronger. It's part of our problem, especially in democracies, in terms of trying to build consensus on all issues. It's really hard to govern today. In the past, it was up to the judges to decide what was factual and what was not factual, and now people are choosing for themselves where they want their news and information. This results in a vicious cycle. ” Kelly said.
“Democracies around the world are currently suffering from the absence of some sort of arbiter of truth, no one to define what the facts are,” Kelly said in separate comments.
Kerry spoke about how democracies are struggling to adapt to climate change because of misinformation. (AP Photo/Gustavo Moreno)
He added: “If we can remove some of the fear-mongering that is going on and get to the reality of what's out there for people, this is the biggest economic opportunity. ” he added.
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Throughout the panel, Kerry emphasized the importance of electing the right people in November to properly tackle the climate crisis.
“I think democracies are in a very difficult place right now, and we haven’t proven that we can act fast enough and on a sufficient scale to meet the challenges we face. To me, that’s the essence of this election. Part of it. Can we beat the fever? In America?”
John Kerry resigned as President Biden's special envoy for climate earlier this year. (Foreign Press Center)
Kerry previously served as the US presidential special envoy for climate change under the Biden administration. He resigned from that position earlier this year.
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