Sapere aude: dare to know. In Marten Luther King’s speech concerning the so-called “race problem in America” he referred to John 8: 32 – ‘the truth shall set you free’. However, that is not necessarily the case in late modernity, as merely knowing the truth is not enough to obtain freedom from injustice. Without the means to change the unequal balance of power in society, the acquisition of knowledge can be like an iron cage. Simply knowing the truth, without the power to contest false truth claims, can constrain the agency of those who are demonised by the lies of the powerful as they pursue their capitalist interests.
In 1835 de Tocqueville contended that freedom of the press is necessary for democracy in America. Implicit in his statement is that the truth must be pursued as an objective reality, as it is fundamental to any society that prioritises the freedoms of its members. However, in contemporary society the truth is not the primary concern of the media, nor is social justice. The truth is only prioritised if it supports the media’s capitalist news values, especially where making money out of political scandal is concerned.
The idea that the media is part of what Althusser refers to as the ideological state apparatus is demonstrated in the case of Julian Assange. The truth did not set him free, but instead it incarcerated him. Assange’s imprisonment by the repressive state apparatus [RSA] is an example of the tension between real news and its suppression by the legacy mass media, in the post-truth age. He used the WikiLeaks media platform to provide the public with evidence of atrocities committed by the American State, against the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan. However, freedom to publish comes at a cost. In Assange’s case, the price of the truth was his personal liberty.
How can we use our social media platforms and digital devices, to weaponize the truth and hold the powerful to account, in the war against injustice and inequality in society?
SOCIAL ACTION SOCIETY C.I.C. 
Give them justice and also let them raise awareness , make sure they is a lot of awareness and also use posters , questions airs to get the message across .
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Weaponising the media will create moral panics around the truth of injustice and inequality.
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Josh- the media can portray a different ideology instead of portraying the truth to the general public to create a false or opposite viewpoint to what has actually happened in society. It can further lead to people creating folk devils and then allowing for them to take the fall for something that may not be the case.
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the media only tell part of the truth (depending on what causes more attention for the public) they only write or discuss the subjects that are gaining more traction. so the public would never really know the truth due to the media not reporting the whole truth
summer
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Social media is a place where users can use their platform to spread either information, disinformation and misinformation. People do rally together to spread what they believe, whether it’s morally/legally right or wrong. It’s possible to rally together for something, but it may not work sadly
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The media amplifies public concerns around the idea of folk devils, identifying the populist viewpoint around race and ethnic minority groups. Within the stage of modernity, through the wind rush generation the media amplified public concern around the populism of working class concerns about non white workers stealing the jobs of the working class and taking advantage of the welfare state. With this became government legislations restricting migration because the media used the working class populism against race to amplify concerns within society. Now, within a post modern society, the media still uses this concept of folk devils against ethnic minority groups, but it is now based around islamophobia, which raises the what the media sees as now public concerns of immigration. -sophie
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Utilizing truth as a weapon in the war against injustice and inequality through media is crucial. Recent events in Ukraine and Gaza highlight the paramount importance of information delivered via media channels. To achieve this, independent and impartial reporting is essential, alongside creating an environment where citizens can access diverse sources of information. Additionally, it’s vital for individuals to develop the ability to express their opinions and verify facts. Through these process
Yein Kim
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Seungjoo Lee
First of all, we must take a critical look at the information provided by the media. When the public does not accept all the content provided by the media as fact and evaluates it with a critical eye, media producers will no longer be able to hide the truth.
Also, when accepting certain information, we must be able to accept information provided by various media, rather than just accepting information provided by one source. Even if it is one incident, the content will be different because the groups each media represents are different. Therefore, we must try to avoid biasing our views towards one side while accessing various media.
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Agencies around the world have thought about ways to create information that’s going to manipulate social media users thoughts, beliefs and actions. For example, creating a false reality of how people will start to view themselves this is caused by models and plastic surgery which also puts down someone’s self-esteem and self-worth. Also, politicians have persuasive strategies to get people to vote for them and believe their thoughts and changes they will make to society for example Rishi Sunak persuaded but also lied to the public about changes he was going to make.
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In a capitalist society full of injustice and inequality, we must consciously dig into the truth. The government controls the media to hide the truth. So, we should not be swayed by false information and develop an attitude to objectively look at facts based on our beliefs. In order to live in a world where everyone is equal, regardless of race or gender, we need the power to consciously understand society and develop our own subjectivity. This is the reason why I am taking this lecture. I hope that in the future, I will also be able to use truth as a weapon.
Suwon Han
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Niyaz Ali
The conflict happening in the war with Israel and Palestine we can see in news channels that they are for Israel as well as our government working with Israel as allies but if we look in the news is doesn’t talk about the deaths of the innocent children that are being killed. So what many people are doing now is using social media to show the injustice that is happening and if we look at a reliable source like Al Jazeera they have posted a video showing the names of innocent children under the age of 18 that have been brutally killed which the media does not talk about.
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Woori Chae / Using the media to weaponize the truth will be difficult. This is because exaggerated lies and distorted things are always more noticeable to people than facts. Nevertheless, we must focus on informing and finding the truth in the media. Reporters must write and report articles based on facts, and readers must strive to read and consume articles based on facts and justice rather than false news.
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Yeonsu – i think truth of post-modernity is what we strive to find and hold, though it looks like difficult. In era of Grown population and more information, political system can be control majority deftly. To not be yield this intransparent system, we must be find transparent things such like Truth through our eyes, directly . (Ex. a blind plot of welfare.) if we don’t do that this will be populism, that we want to avoid.
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Corinna- in order combat injustice, people must use their platforms and voices to speak the truth, spread awareness, and to question what we see and hear in the news. Personally I think that social media has provided that voice and platform for many people already. Most people are scared to speak up about injustices they see or experience due to backlash and opposing opinions but we will never tackle injustice in silence. More voices means more force behind policy changes
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Hyoin Jeong
In modern society, I agree with that truth is not important in the media. The media is obsessed with the values of capitalism and does not pay attention to the nature of the issue. We must ask what the ultimate function of the media is. I think it is necessary to reconsider the pure function of the media that brings out the problem of the essence, not the mass production of false and distorted truth.
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By using the media of a source of truth rather than fiction, this will help reduce moral panics both in the media and society. However the media is obsessed with the idea of capitalism and use this to distort the views of the ‘common people’. In an ideal world, the media would not exist to create fear but instead use their power to help educate the public. I think the media is there to protect the government and their own ideologies and leads me to question weather or not society would be better without the media
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Using the Media in these days, they are often used as a wepon to advocate his or her thoughts. So depend on Neoliberalism, the media is making people’s thoughts more clear because they only treat the media they want.
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the media has the chance to bring about justice & equality, but that doesnt bring in readers & instead focuses on exaggerated lies and distorted facts, loosening social cohesion and pushing us further away from a multicultural society
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I don’t think the media tells the truth – they release information which they know will attract attention. Using the media is good in the terms of its audience as it is very broad and connects worldwide, however they can feed into the idea of folk devils, labelling, and a self fulfilling prophecy. They over dramatise situations and only touch upon crimes and topics which will gain them a lot of attention
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The media can be used to create fake news which can cause newspapers and news channel to report it out and can cause moral panic within the country. You should believe anything on the Internet unless it is from a trusted source. – Charlie
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Media is a widespread source. Many people have many different options and typically tend to find sources that align with their already established views in order to justify them. If a xenophobic person finds a site that states immigrants are “stealing jobs” and “steal the countries identity and money” they will fight to the death trying to prove this view. Not many people choose to leave their echo chamber once they find something they relate to. Media has been infamous for dramatisation, such as with the Mods and Rockers in the 50s and 60s.
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Social media can be used to spread the truth by sharing real evidence and giving people a voice against powerful groups. The case of Julian assange and wiki leaks shows how online platforms can expose injustice, even when those in power try to silence it. However, the truth only creates change when people act together on it.
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The media can a be a useful tool in today’s society, however this depends on the use of it.
The wave of fake news has been unregulated and uncontrolled leading to the media saturated society
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The media may only ever tell part of the truth based on the narrativethey want to portray. They will focus more on fear and scandal in order to raise their profile, attract interest through which they can gain an income
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the use of devises and social media as a whole can be a good tool to be used against oppression and injustice. If enough people voice their feelings on this injustice it could cause the people in power to have to change
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If poeple use social media, we would be able to raise Awareness, meaning that we could share stories, news, and information about injustice and inequality to educate your followers. Use hashtags to amplify the message and reach a wider audience, an example of this is the campaign #MeToo.
Social media can also make sure that we hold poeple in power Accountable: Use social media to hold powerful individuals and institutions accountable for their actions. Expose corruption, discrimination, and other forms of injustice by sharing evidence and demanding transparency.
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We can use our devices to leave evidence. If there is an unfair situations, incidents, or when we recognize abuses of power, we can use our devices to record, and take a video. If we post that evidence to the social media, it could be strong tool to show the world about the reality, and we could make a social relationship to change the world.
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The issue cannot fact check everything. So you are going to be affected by fake news but it just confuses people on what’s real and what’s not which disengages people.
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We can use our social media platforms and digital devices to hold the powerful to account by spreading th truth across social media. I think that this had become a popular way of weaponizing the truth due to the anonymity that social media platforms provide, meaning that there is less risk to your own liberties involved.
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