Social media does not follow stories like these – it skims them over and fills in the gaps with assumptions.
Not long ago, Jaden Proctor had the felony charges of rape, robbery, strangulation and assault dropped. A plea of guilty was accepted for misdemeanor assault.
Now the woman involved is being charged with a first-degree misdemeanor for falsification.
As soon as facts around this case came out, many ran to the comments to share their opinions; unfortunately, their typing fingers outpaced their brains.
This case highlighted growing problems with media literacy and how social media misinformation starts, so let’s clear a few things up.
Anyone claiming a guilty or not-guilty verdict before April 15 is spreading false information. Anyone claiming the woman involved has a guilty verdict of falsification is spreading false information. There is one guilty plea and one charge waiting to be determined.
A charge is not a conviction: Until a verdict is reached, all parties are presumed innocent. The law should treat you as innocent until proven guilty, this is true of both those accused of assault and also those accused of falsification.
Reporting on such heavy cases like this needs to be precise, and conclusions very carefully drawn – social media does the opposite. We got the predictable, but all too loud commenters wanting to use anything they could latch on to as confirmation bias for their own worldviews.
This falsification charge could turn out to result in a guilty or not guilty verdict.
Regardless of this, the problem with such intense cases being publicized is that many don’t know how they work, then read the headline not the substance.
Our hearts should rest with the victims, but social media has turned tragic situations into another click for people to look at with as little information as possible, yet have the ability to share all the opinions in the world they have.
It’s time to actually look at the sentiment people are trying to push, and what the real data on it is.
The problem
The #MeToo movement did a lot of good to encourage thousands of assault victims to take courage and step forward. In reaction, the sentiment that many men must fear being falsely accused of sexual assault circulated, propagated by sexist red-pill influencers.
Studies show that between 2 to 8% of total rape accusations turn out to be false. Furthermore, this percentage is most likely smaller, considering many victims will avoid going to the police out of fear that justice will not be served. Only a minute percentage of those falsely accused ever received complaints, charges or convictions. In most cases, suspects were never even named.
False allegations do occur; it is a horrible thing to ever accuse someone of. Rape is far more common than false allegations, and the studies are clear, even if social media is not.
Yet this reactionary, anti-woman trend, trying to influence men into believing that women lie about rape, hurts the rule of law in general; discrediting both victims of rape and false accusations.
This case in Portage County is being used as fuel – for the sentiment that women lie about rape. It is much more likely that a victim who has a substantiated case will either drop out or will never receive justice.
The people using this case to justify their skewed worldview are proving nothing more than the fact that they want to confirm their own biases.
Remind those around you to know the information before they start talking about it, even if they have good intentions. I still have to remind myself of that.
This case doesn’t prove women often lie, it proves how eager some are to believe they do.
Tanner Smith is a columnist. Contact him at [email protected].
