Ingrid WALSH

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution created national citizenship, that everyone born in the United States is a citizen.

Good civic habits, also called virtues, facilitate this engagement, which is critical for maintaining a democracy. Civic virtues like integrity, responsibility, courage, and justice bind us together as citizens. They do so by supporting just civic action and promoting a common identity around living freely within our communities. Other virtues like... See more

On paper, these seem simple, but they require much more of us. For example, voting requires us to be informed on the issues facing our communities. The best way to get informed is to be engaged.

The legal rights of citizenship include things like voting in elections and due process of law for the accused. Responsibilities include things like paying taxes and serving on juries.

“establish justice, secure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty.” This requires actions from both the people and the government and sets the stage for the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

The United States was founded as a self-governing republic. It derives its authority from the consent of the governed. Consent is provided by the people who were citizens of the United States. Over time, the status of citizen has expanded in the United States most explicitly in the Fourteenth Amendment. Citizenship denotes individuals with certain ... See more

Finally, many individuals and organizations have financial incentives to spread blatant lies. Through websites, newsletters, and digital platforms, they make money from subscriptions, advertising, and merchandise sales. As long as spreading lies is lucrative, it will be hard to get a serious handle on the flood of disinformation that plagues our cu... See more

The disinformation risks have grown stronger in recent months due to new tech tools such as generative AI. There are easy-to-use tools that can create false pictures, videos, audio, and narratives. People no longer need a technical background to use AI tools but can make requests through prompts and templates and become master propagandists. We nee... See more

For coming political battles, people need to be aware of how the current information ecosystem regularly is promoting falsehoods and skewing views about important issues. But we do not need to stand back and accept widespread misperceptions as the new reality. There are several things people and organizations can do to protect themselves for what w... See more