Social media has allowed society to move at a faster place and permitted more immediate social interaction than ever seen before. At this point, however, it is clear that social media and the rapid connections it provides have some inherent failures. One major issue associated with social media is something that could be called the “outrage machine,” where ridiculous articles are shared and discussed. Even when they are largely treated as idiotic, they move the public conversation on the subject further toward insanity.
In the LGBTQ community, an insidious fake news campaign is taking place. Individuals with unclear motives have been spreading articles and tweets expressing either interest in or disgust at the idea of including pedophiles in the LGBTQ community. They are fighting for “pedophiles’ rights” and arguing that pedophiles have a natural, inbuilt sexual orientation toward children.
One thing has to be made plainly clear: pedophiles are not members of a marginalized community. They are not simply acting on their sexual orientation when they victimize children. No reasonable member of the LGBTQ community, or indeed any reasonable person, is arguing that pedophiles should be considered akin to homosexuals or trans people.
It takes only a quick moment of research into the articles that even mention treating pedophiles as members of a marginalized community to find that they are from shaky or completely fake publications or writers. The Daily Caller, an unabashedly conservative online news publication with a strong conservative leaning, according to MediaBiasFactCheck.com, posted a link to a story titled “Pedophiles Believe They Should Be a Part of the LGBT Community” on July 10, 2018. This story has been occasionally quoted by random Twitter accounts, brought back into the public conversation.
Think about that for a moment. A publication with a strongly conservative leaning has posted something claiming that pedophiles think they should be considered equal to gay, lesbian and trans people. Even if pedophiles do think they should be respected, honestly, who cares? Should murderers be protected from public backlash just because they say it? Would anyone even listen? No, they would not.
Not only are the publications that share such vitriolic, ridiculous stories at fault for this issue, but the people who share the stories are at fault as well. Whether they were looking for attention or just expressing their outrage at the possibility of such a ridiculous concept, they are at fault for amplifying the issue.
The concept of pedophiles as akin to LGBTQ people is preposterous, as are so many other ridiculous claims made online. It is important to think about what you share on the internet and verify that the publication you are sharing is honest and interested in the truth and that you are not just helping them share their ridiculous claims.
