I would love to have a conversation with Google, which is like, how can we flag the fact that this piece of content should be connected to a rumor without basically repeating the rumor everywhere through it just to get the traffic. I wish there was more of that in Silicon Valley because many of these companies tend to be in northern countries. They tend not to be lower middle income countries. So by working globally, I also have huge sympathy with these companies who need global responses in order to scale the work that they're doing.
How can tech companies help flatten the curve? First and foremost, they must address the lethal misinformation and disinformation circulating on their platforms. The problem goes much deeper than fake news, according to Claire Wardle, co-founder and executive director of First Draft. She studies the gray zones of information warfare, where bad actors mix facts with falsehoods, news with gossip, and sincerity with satire. “Most of this stuff isn't fake and most of this stuff isn't news,” Claire argues. If these subtler forms of misinformation go unaddressed, tech companies may not only fail to flatten the curve — they could raise it higher.