This year, disinformation about the pandemic, BLM protests, and the election divided the US, with “Plandemic” as a case study of social networks' failures
Disinformation and its fallout have defined 2020, the year of the infodemic. Month after month, self-serving social media companies … Tweets: @janelytv , @newslitproject , @rasmus_kleis , @brucewilson , @_zakali , @paulachertok , and @katestarbird See also Mediagazer Tweets: Jane Lytvynenko / @janelytv : After the election, I sat down to look at how disinformation undermined US institutions & turned Americans against one another. It's a long, winding read and a culmination of the work our team has been doing for the last 12 months (4 years? ). Enjoy it. https://buzzfeednews.com/... @newslitproject : This @BuzzFeedNews piece by @JaneLytv encapsulates the motivations behind disinformation — politics, profit, confusion & others — & provides many examples just from 2020 of its devastating real-world effects. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Rasmus Kleis Nielsen / @rasmus_kleis : “Disinformation didn't just come through social media; it has been authoritatively promoted by President Donald Trump's reelection campaign” Trump, Fox, Cruz, Carlson, DeVos, OAN... Article has many details on who - not just the what - “broke the US” https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... @brucewilson : @BrandyZadrozny @NikkiMcR @JaneLytv Disinformation is hardly a new American phenomenon. Fossil fuel industry disinfo has long fed climate change skepticism. Generations of conservative evangelicals have been weaned on Christian nationalism pseudo-history. In the 90s, disinfo sparked the militia movement. And so on. Zak Ali / @_zakali : If you're going to read one thing this weekend, please let it be this piece on disinfo by @JaneLytv. Facebook has harbored an environment where objective reality can be questioned, and the real-world consequences are far reaching. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... @paulachertok : #Disinformation & its fallout have defined 2020, year of the #infodemic. Self-serving social media companies let corrosive manipulators out for dollars, votes, & clicks vie for attention—no matter the damage. How Disinformation Broke the US https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... via @JaneLytv Kate Starbird / @katestarbird : A sweeping article that covers so many of the falsehoods of 2020, from Covid conspiracy theories to false narratives meant to undermine the protests for Black lives to the participatory disinformation campaign claiming massive voter fraud. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/ ... See also Mediagazer