From the Executive Summary: Before the COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019] pandemic hit, democracies were already struggling to address disinformation, hate, extremism, and other dangerous online content while also protecting free speech and privacy Now, Facebook, Twitter, and Google's YouTube are awash with disinformation and misinformation that can be deadly Despite the companies' commitment to take unprecedented steps to control the problem, they are failing This report argues that Facebook, Twitter, and Google's targeted advertising business models, and the opaque algorithmic systems that support them, are the root cause of their failure to staunch the flow of misinformation COVID-19 (Disease);Disinformation;Social media
Getting to the Source of Infodemics: It's the Business Model: A Report from Ranking Digital Rights