By: Spokesman Newsroom

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Thursday, 26th September 2024)-Premier Mark Brantley, has weighed in on recent comments made by Attorney General Garth Wilkin in Parliament indicating that language aside, he agrees with the principle of the matter spoken about. 

 “The comments as I understand them, and I regret now that I was not in the parliament at the time to hear them myself. I was in parliament that day, but I had a commitment prior to the AG speaking. I have since seen some clips of what the AG would have said, and it is not for me to defend the Honourable Attorney General Garth Wilkin. He’s a learned man and he ought to know what language he should employ in making the arguments that he seeks to make. What I will say, however, is that his language aside- and it was flamboyant-, some may argue it was perhaps extreme, but the language aside, the principle that the Attorney General spoke to is one that I agree with. We have these devices called cell phones and sometimes I feel that we need to have some classes to educate our people about them.” 

Premier Brantley, a trained attorney, was quizzed about the publicly debatable matter at his monthly press conference on Thursday 26th September 2024.

According to him: “If I was there, I would have reached across the island, pulled his jacket and told him…’Take it easy, don’t be so flamboyant’ but as I said he has his own style and he would have been presenting but I think that there are some mischievous people out there who are trying to say that it’s an attack on freedom of speech it’s not attack on freedom of speech but our people need to understand that the freedom of speech doesn’t mean that it’s freedom if all speech was free we would have the law of defamation.

He expressed concern over the dangerous role social media plays in spreading false or inflammatory information in an already tense environment where security and personal safety are at risk. 

“We cannot be putting things out there that can potentially put people at risk,” he added, pointing out that these messages could lead to real-life consequences, particularly given the current climate of gun violence.

He further noted the general misuse of technology, particularly social media, by individuals to spread harmful and misleading content. “We use these instruments and many of us find creative ways to use them to make mischief,” Premier Brantley commented. He warned about the malicious use of platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (now X), TikTok, and WhatsApp to spread “absolute rubbish” without any sense of responsibility or accountability.

Reflecting on the broader societal implications, Premier Brantley underscored the potential for this behavior to create confusion and distrust among the public. “We get to a point where sometimes people don’t know what is true and what is false. They don’t know who to believe,” he stated, lamenting how social media is being weaponized for the most “malicious purposes.”

Touching on the dangers of misinformation, he referred to the Attorney General’s assertion that sharing harmful content is not just irresponsible but illegal. 

“I believe what the Attorney General was trying to say is that those things are actually illegal. I wonder if people understand that they commit a crime when they forward these types of things.

Premier Brantley called for a societal shift toward responsible communication, especially on digital platforms, warning of the destructive consequences of unchecked social media use. 

“We are not using social media to uplift each other, to share ideas, to have a conversation that is meaningful. We are using it to destroy, to encourage retaliation against some people,” Premier Brantley emphasized. 

He cautioned that circulation of harmful content could lead to violence and urged the public to be more thoughtful about their online behavior.

“As I said, his language was perhaps flamboyant, but he was trying to draw the line because all of us saw and heard the various voice notes and comments that were being sent out, and in an environment that is already difficult in terms of security and personal safety, we cannot be putting things out there that can potentially put people at risk. We don’t know who is hearing this and who might be influenced by what they hear to say in an environment where gun violence is prevalent and where guns seem to be easily accessible to some that they will take it upon themselves to put harm to somebody. And we’re passing these things around like how you pass around candy at Christmas…”