Misinformation and disinformation have become buzzwords of the last decade. The former relates to misleading or inaccurate information; the latter to false information deliberately circulated for political ends.
Concern about the spread of both evils rose considerably during the Covid pandemic and has been fuelled by Russia’s ever-more-brazen efforts to interfere with democracies across Europe and elsewhere.
But do we place undue attention on the role of misinformation? Perverse as it may sound, there are reasons to think so.
First, the Bullshit Asymmetry Principle tells us that the amount of energy needed to refute misinformation (or bullshit) is an order of magnitude greater than that needed to produce it. The Italian programmer Alberto Brandolini came up with this law of social media to highlight how the odds are stacked massively in favour of bad actors.
Fact-checkers are hugely
Continue Reading on The Irish Times
This preview shows approximately 15% of the article. Read the full story on the publisher's website to support quality journalism.