OPINIONISTA: A real reason for the powerful to fight disinformation

Until recently it hasn’t been in the interest of those with power to make our digital reality work for our democracy. It has been, and largely remains the case, that profits trump ethics, principle and democracy.

So, where’s the good news here? The good news is that disinformation doesn’t just undermine journalism and the news, it undermines all institutions. But it doesn’t stop there. Like any parasitic virus, it has the potential to destroy everything. That disinformation has the potential to undermine all institutions means that for the first time we actually have a strong argument that even those driven purely by profit and greed can understand that even their profits are under severe threat.

Just like climate change, big companies aren’t, for the most part, caring because they want to, but because they see in the short term their brand taking a beating for not caring and in the long term their survival at risk if they don’t. Disinformation ultimately puts the long-term survival of all institutions and entities at risk.

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