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You are probably spreading misinformation. Here’s how to stop.
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You are probably spreading misinformation. Here’s how to stop.

A citizen’s guide to not helping trolls, bots and other online disinformers during turbulent times.

Geoffrey A. Fowler
The Washington Post, 2020
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Most social media users know not to “feed the trolls” – that is, not to engage with social media posters who try to provoke controversy and don’t care about debate or discourse. They seek only to boost their engagement numbers and spread disinformation. But can cute memes also be malicious? Tech journalist Geoffrey A. Fowler says yes, they can. He offers insight into disinformation campaigns and shares tips from experts he consulted about the 2020 explosion of fake news around George Floyd’s murder, the Black Lives Matter protests and the COVID-19 pandemic. Fowler’s evergreen advice: Learn to avoid unwittingly spreading disinformation – even if it seems to be just a harmless image of a cute dog with a flag.

Summary

Online disinformation flourished about the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and the COVID-19 pandemic – especially on Facebook and Twitter.

The Russian Internet Research Agency, a group charged with widely spreading lots of disinformation during the 2016 US presidential election, used the natural desire people have to belong to a movement to lure them in and prepare them to accept disinformation. It established accounts by using posts designed to attract people who care about particular issues.

Such “bad actors” build up lots of followers by accumulating shared posts and social media clout. In the face of this nonstop onslaught, even savvy social media users unknowingly shared disinformation.

Social media platforms try to be alert to these hazards. For example, Twitter removed an account which used the hashtag #DCblackout to spread a false rumor that authorities were jamming protesters’ smartphones. However, it had only three followers...

About the Author

Geoffrey A. Fowler is the technology columnist for The Washington Post.

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