Fake News: Humans Are to Blame for its Rapid Spread

Pogo was right...

What if the scourge of false news on the Internet is not the result of Russian operatives or partisan zealots or computer-controlled bots, Steve Lohr asks on nytimes.com.

What if the main problem is us, he adds.

People are the principal culprits, according to a new study examining the flow of stories on Twitter, he wrote.

And people, the study's authors also say, prefer false news, he added.

For more on the nytimes report:https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/08/technology/twitter-fake-news-research.html

The Internet is also awash with falsehoods cascading into email boxes everyday.  The other day, an old friend sent me one about TV's Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Rogers and actor Lee Marvin.  It didn't sound right, and a quick check with snopes revealed it was mainly false:  https://www.snopes.com/military/celebrities/leemarvin.asp

My friend said a retired Air Force colonel sent it to him, and he just passed it along.

Photo: Pinterest.

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