PSA: Fake “News” = Prison

This is a PSA, a Public Service Announcement

Nine years before Bernie Madoff’s multi-billion dollar ponzi scheme came crashing down in 2008 and he went to prison, there was a whistleblower, Harry Markopolos. Markopolos had repeatedly gone to authorities with evidence of Madoff’s crimes. Markopolos was ignored.   

The people at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission who could have done something to stop the massive fraud did not. They failed to act until they had no choice but to act.

Meanwhile, Markopolos lived in fear of his life while trying to convince the world of Madoff’s crimes. Crimes which, ultimately, resulted in Madoff being sentenced to serve 150 years in Federal prison.

His 37,000 victims were private citizens, and public figures, including “director Steven Spielberg, actor Kevin Bacon, former New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon, Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Weisel.”

The mastermind of America’s biggest investment fraud died in prison on April 14, 2021.

Some whistleblowers are initially mocked and defamed. They may receive the “nuts and sluts” treatment from guilty men, misogynists, the women who enabled them, and/or the hypocrites.

Whistleblowers may be dismissed, demeaned, intimidated, silenced by officers of the court, and blacklisted. They may also suffer losses to their careers, or a combination thereof, for telling the truth, for not wanting to be complicit, or for not wanting to see anyone else harmed. Women who were right. Women who were telling the truth the entire time.

This we saw, for example, during some of the #MeToo cases, until mega, Oscar award-winning producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to serve 23 years in prison for rape and sexual abuse.

Thank you to all the good, honorable, ethical, decent men who helped along the way of which there are many.

So goes the Internet era of fake news, disinformation, and defamation. The real world and often tragic consequences were arguably preventable had people in positions of authority acted sooner.  

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."  — Voltaire

As always, there are whistleblowers and red flags.

In 2008, for example, the Honorable Alex Kozinski, then an appeals court judge in the Ninth Circuit, prophetically warned regarding the dangers of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 § Section 230’s broad immunization which was afforded to digital platforms. He wrote the following in part:

“The Communications Decency Act [§ Section 230] was not meant to create a lawless no-man’s-land on the Internet.” See Fair House. Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com, LLC, 521 F.3d 1157, 1164 (9th Cir. 2008) (writing for the majority, Chief Judge Kozinski noted that “[t]he Internet is no longer a fragile new means of communications that could easily be smothered in the cradle by overzealous enforcement of laws and regulations applicable to brick-and-mortar businesses.

Rather, it has become a dominant—perhaps the preeminent—means through which commerce is conducted. And its vast reach into the lives of millions is exactly why we must be careful not to exceed the scope of immunity provided by Congress and . . . comply with laws of general applicability.” Id. at n.15. (bold mine)

And what constitutes the laws of general applicability? Briefly, torts and crimes include but are not limited to fraud, impersonation, unjust enrichment, defamation, incitement of violence, child pornography, and the like.

See also, for e.g., 18 U.S. Code § 1038. False information and hoaxes.

Unfortunately, decades of court cases, complaints, arrests, and plaintiff, after plaintiff, after exhausted plaintiff, litigating stressful, lengthy lawsuits while trying to obtain some relief and redress, also tell the tale that otherwise might not have been told had Judge Kozinski’s warning about a lawless Internet not fallen essentially on deaf ears — had laws on the books been enforced earlier.

Thankfully, we are at the stage where individuals in authority are taking action–as the real-world consequences of fake news, defamation and disinformation can no longer be ignored. Too many people have been seriously if not irreparably, harmed, killed, and/or ended up in prison who acted on it.

And our 2008 red flag waver Judge Kozinski?

Judge Kozinski retired abruptly from the bench over three years ago amid sexual harassment allegations #MeToo. People may respect an institution or an office, like the judicial branch or the office of the presidency, but that does not necessarily mean they have to respect all the occupants. Unfortunately, not all judges are created equally. Thus not above reproach. They too may enjoy stellar reputations, as they wield power over people’s lives for years sometimes, while reportedly concealing and/or trying to conceal unethical, improper, abuse of power conduct unbecoming of an officer of the court and in apparent violation of the rules.

For reference purposes, see for e.g. some of the rules: The American Bar Association: Model Code of Judicial Conduct. CANON 1: “A judge shall uphold and promote the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary, and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety,” and so on. (bold mine)

Below is a snapshot of some of the consequences of fake news, disinformation, and defamation, published with the hope it will deter others from suffering a similar fate of ending up in prison. People who were induced into action because they believed slick, fast talkers with no there there, falsehoods, nonsense, gaslighting, projections, and/or by believing wild distortions of facts and reality they read or heard on the Internet.

And to hopefully prevent even more people from being senselessly harmed or tragically killed.

There are real problems to be concerned with which can be resolved peacefully. There is no reason to make anything up.

Please do not be the next person induced into action who ends up in prison because you believe fake news, defamation, and/or disinformation.

* This post is periodically updated with more examples of the afore-stated.

Want some tips? Visit >>  Don’t get fooled: 14 Tips to Spot Fake News