Digital disinformation is destroying society but we can fight back
New laws can improve the integrity of information on the web, says Samuel Woolley, author of “The Reality Game”
By K.N.C.
WHENEVER DONALD TRUMP would boast about his social-media popularity in the 2016 presidential election, Samuel Woolley would shake his head knowingly. An expert on digital misinformation, he understood that although the numbers were fiction—counting bots not voters—they dangerously influenced public perception.
Manipulation and deception has always been a part of politics. But it is particularly abundant and influential on the web, since it is less expensive and easier to reach people, and artificial intelligence methods like “deepfakes” make it simpler to doctor video and audio.
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