So there’s a lot misinformation about #COVID19 out there on @facebook, @twitter and @YouTube. I mean a lot. And politicians are quick to point fingers at platforms for not doing enough. But I’ve been thinking about this, a lot. Here’s where we are, and what it all means.
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So let’s be clear. Wherever you look on social media, you’re going to come across false rumors about the #coronavirus. Everything from 5G causing it (it doesn’t) to refugees deliberately spreading it (they don’t)

And in response, tech companies have gone farther than I thought they would to take stuff down. I mean, we’re talking about the most unprecedented amount of takedowns in their histories. They’ve upped their game

But, at the same time, it hasn’t been enough. Not nearly enough. The rumors, half-truths and misinformation continues to spread — mostly because the platforms are playing wackamole with a wave of content that they can’t control. No matter the sophistication of their AI.

What does that mean? Well, we’re in an unprecedented (yes, using that word again) misinformation space where no one has control, no one can stop rumors and no govt/company has a meaningful answer. That’s where we are.

And that comes before the (low-level, so far) is state-backed disinformation campaigns by Russia and China, though — klaxon alert — Beijing and Moscow are starting to blend their messages, possibly indicating new level of state-backed activities (more on that from me later)

But where I find myself scratching my head is the push from politicians to blame social media companies for all of this. That it’s up to them to find it, block it and “fix” it — whatever fixing it means

Don’t get me wrong. Tech companies need to do more (my view: open up more data access to allow independent researchers fill access to platforms) and do it quickly

But you have this situation where politicians are looking for a scapegoat (insert tech company villain of choice) and passing the buck for any hard choices to these private companies

The same companies, I should add, that these same politicians are relying on (often half-heartily) to provide the first line of defense against half truths, rumors and misinformation

And, should also add, the technical expertise in using big data, etc to help model the spread of virus in populations and a bunch of other issues, but I digress

My point is this: while politicians point fingers, they’re also overlooking their failures to make society more robust against misinformation — something that should have started before 2016 US election

Investment in quality media, widespread digital media literacy programs, new laws to regulate social media content. I mean, I could go on and on, but you get the point. Most countries have not done any of this.

So while I agree that social media companies, despite their recent actions, have not done enough to stop this problem, I’m not looking to them to “fix it.” That’s just passing the buck from where this should have been dealt with: elected officials

And sure, I work for POLITICO, so that’s my bag. But this crisis (and yes,‘I understand there are bigger issues out there) has shown an ongoing failure to create robust online environment that can combat falsehoods in effective manner

Blaming tech companies, although easy to do, will not get us beyond this. The playbook for action has been around for years, but politicians (mostly) refused to take responsibility and act. It would be a shame not to learn at least one lesson from this ongoing global crisis.

Rant over. Thoughts appreciated.

Ps: apologies for typos. Fat fingers on tiny smartphone screen...