Playing whack-a-troll with our democracy
Disinformation is a growing business that brings up a lot of questions. Is that fake news story getting to your timeline from a troll farm in Russia? Or a teenage contractor a few states over? More importantly, who is actually making money off this?
On today’s show, we’re joined by Nina Jankowicz, a disinformation fellow at the Wilson Center and the author of the book “How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News and the Future of Conflict.” She’ll help us dive into this ever-evolving ecosystem and explain its ripple effects. Hint: We might want to be concerned about our democracy.
Later, we’ll talk about vaccines and the disinformation around them, plus more of your ideas for a term to use when people get misled by the internet. Finally, roboticist Ayanna Howard answers the Make Me Smart question.
Here’s everything we talked about today:
- “Facebook Groups Are Destroying America,” which Jankowicz wrote for Wired
- “Facebook bans marketing firm running ‘troll farm’ for pro-Trump youth group” from The Washington Post
- “Disinformation For Hire: How A New Breed Of PR Firms Is Selling Lies Online” from BuzzFeed News
- “Facebook, Twitter dismantle global array of disinformation networks” from Reuters
- “A Dose of Optimism, as the Pandemic Rages On” from The New York Times
- “Facebook says it will finally ban anti-vaccination ads” from CNBC
None of us is as smart as all of us.
No matter how bananapants your day is, “Make Me Smart” is here to help you through it all— 5 days a week.
It’s never just a one-way conversation. Your questions, reactions, and donations are a vital part of the show. And we’re grateful for every single one.
