Can anything go faster than lies? (From Bournemouth Echo)

Can anything go faster than lies?

10:10am Wednesday 11th July 2012 in Opinion

CRUELTY and malicious gossip have probably been around as long as human beings have.

But the invention of the internet and smartphones has created new ways for people to spread offence and lies.

Today we report how 15-year-old Zach Freestone’s life became a nightmare because of a rumour that he had committed a rape.

The story was false, but that didn’t stop it gaining ground online, with strangers repeating it via Facebook or Blackberry Messenger.

Freedom of speech is a fine thing, but it doesn’t extend to allowing people to spread false rumours as they please. People should be held accountable for rumours they spread online as surely as they should for the things they might sign their name to.

There’s an old expression that a lie can get halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its boots. In the digital age, the speed of lies is getting even faster.