So much of what I read lately concerns trying to understand the spread of disinformation and possibly what educators can do about it. I thought a recent Wired article on the topic could be helpful to members of the general public trying to understand the issue.
The Wired writer compared the issue of misinformation to the trafficking of illegal drugs and used this comparison to illustrate why the decision some make (go after Facebook or Twitter) may not achieve a long term solution.
My take on the logic of the Wired piece was not that the online companies or their top executives are not responsible for some portion of the problem, but the comparison identifying the multiple parties to the issue was helpful. Like drug lords and drug cartels the tech execs seem an easy target. Like the war on drugs, elimination of the drug execs and their organizations do not eliminate what has become a demand. Another company is likely to rise up to provide for the need. Such companies are not intentionally evil, but open to how people seem to want to use social media.
A total solution will require an effort to address those who consume and encourage disinformation through their likes and shares. The mechanisms here are difficult to address. Confirmation bias in the general case is involved and in the case off some categories of disinformation a particularly damaging form of confirmation bias based in personal identify. In the most difficult cases we function somewhat like fans of a particular sports team or perhaps practitioners of a specific religion. Our commitments are biased by what is an important component of how we have come to understand ourselves. Changing a structure of understanding at this core level is very challenging.