How Big Tech failed to stop misinformation in 2020
Misinformation ran amok in 2020.
Image: bob al-greene / mashable
The hottest memes of 2020! The most viral videos of the year! The hottest hashtags!
The year-in-review lists from Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter were missing the biggest story of the year: their failure to stop the spread of misinformation. Â
The QAnon conspiracy theory found a shocking amount of
mainstream support. Black Lives Matter protests were exploited to spread lies about violence coming to Small Town, USA. And officials had to fight destructive wildfires and false stories about antifascists at the same time.
And, of course, there was the misinformation superspreader event: the COVID-19 pandemic.