I had the exact opposite takeaway from the pandemic. Doubling down on blatant lies during a mass casualty event is exactly what spooked so many people and fuel

I had the exact opposite takeaway from the pandemic. Doubling down on blatant lies during a mass casualty event is exactly what spooked so many people and fueled the anti-vax movement. "why would they lie? what else are they lying about? what are they hiding? whats their motive?" misinformation thrives in a low trust environment. sure misinformation agents can sow distrust, but that should be seen as an opportunity by the institutions to set the record straight and gain trust, because if their ideas are really misinformation there should be no issue with having a conversation that demonstrates it one way or the other. The exact wrong thing to do is double-down on lies, penalize, cancel, and censor free speech, and socially shame, berate, and hummiliate people that are just as scared, confused, and vulnerable as anyone else. That's how you lose trust and how misinformation wins.