It seems like it should be easier for people to understand that overapplying the "disinformation" label to stuff that's standard-issue partisan spin makes it less credible when applied to the truly dangerous stuff, like conspiracy theories about vaccines or election fraud.
@NateSilver538 My model says people understand this fine but the dynamics and incentives involved make it inevitable. All such words suffer this fate.
@NateSilver538 The thing is...."standard-issue partisan spin", like saying an election is rigged when it isn't, can also be truly dangerous....like leading to insurrections....and needs to be called out for what it is.
@NateSilver538 I think politician spins represent misinformation rather than disinformation. Thanks to Murdoch enterprises the line between them got blurred.
@NateSilver538 Or when half the stuff labeled conspiracy theory ends up being true 6 months later.
@NateSilver538 Or, you know, we could let flat out disinformation go for decades by giving it twee names like “spin” until it’s so normalized that entire political parties can get away with “the election was stolen” and have it be treated like a matter of opinion that needs no evidence.
@NateSilver538 This issue is so partisan, but it really should not be. Do you know how long there have been lies and disinformation? Probably as long as spoken language has existed. It is an individuals responsibility to judge what is credible and what is not. The world is complex 1/2