Social media spreads information fast. But it spreads misinformation faster.
The election this year has been seriously compromised by deliberately misleading posts, and the majority of Americans know it. A survey conducted by computer security firm Avira found that only 24 percent of respondents believe the election will be “free and fair.” And 50 percent believe the reason is that social media is supplying misinformation.
Despite this, most people believe that they have not played a role in propagating false information; 51 percent of survey respondents said they do not believe they’ve shared fake news on social media. Twelve percent, though, know that they have.
Social media companies, in particular Facebook, have largely absolved themselves from their roles in the spread of misinformation. Facebook repeatedly declined to take action on voting misinformation posted by President Donald Trump. And after complaints from employees and condemnation outside the company, they affixed such posts with a link to general voting information instead of fact-checking them.
The ways that social media is being used to manipulate the election is part of a much larger problem: Social media companies refuse to deal with misinformation, and it’s having an impact across the world, leading to dire global consequences. A few weeks ago a former Facebook data scientist issued a memo in which she concluded that because of her role at the company, “I know that I have blood on my hands by now.”
