Argument #1: Misinformation spreads through social media sites
quickly
"Lies can go viral in a
shockingly short time, and for reasons that remain imperfectly
understood, false statements appear to spread more quickly
than true ones." (Sunstein, 2020, p. 390)
Argument #2: People are turning to social media as their source of
news
"Recent surveys have concluded
that roughly 45% of Americans access news on Facebook while
roughly 62% obtain news on some form of social media."
(Walters, 2018, p. 115)
Argument #3: Bots are used on social media sites to direct users
to certain web pages
"The bots can be programmed to
search for information on the Internet that is similar to what
a social media user has already clicked on, liked or shared.
They can then inject that new information into what the user
sees." (Burkhardt, 2017, p. 12)
Sunstein, C. R. (2020). Falsehoods
and the First Amendment. Harvard Journal of Law &
Technology, 33(2), 387–426.
Walters, R. M. (2018). How to Tell a
Fake: Fighting Back against Fake News on the Front Lines of
Social Media. Texas Review of Law & Politics, 23(1),
111–179.