Megaphones on the Disinformation Superhighway 0
Steve M argues that a strong factor for the spread of mis- and disinformation is not necessarily the often anonymous liars who make it up, but rather well-know persons provide megaphones. A snippet:
But we’ve known for years that disinformation spreads most rapidly when high-profile people spread it. Thirty years ago, false rumors about Bill Clinton were spread widely in a video called The Clinton Chronicles, which featured an appearance by Reverend Jerry Falwell, who was a hosehold name at the time; Falwell also promoted the video. In 2004, the false attacks on John Kerry’s service record in Vietnam were made openly by named right-wing operatives. And the most famous promoter of many right-wing lies — that Barack Obama wasn’t born in America, that the 2020 presidential election was rigged — was Trump, who is very much not an anonymous figure.
I commend the entire article to your attention.
