‘As special counsel Robert Mueller, congressional investigators and investigative journalists continue to plug away at determining how Russian agents may have used social media (among other tools) to manipulate American voters in the 2016 presidential election, a larger reality appears to be overlooked. Whatever the Russians did on the internet was only possible because millions of Americans have been gulping down fake news via Facebook long before Donald Trump descended his golden elevator in the summer of 2015.
That reality is manifested daily, but one recent example demonstrates just how pervasive fake news is, especially on the political right.
Amid the devastation wrought on Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria, millions of residents are having trouble getting access to food and basic medical supplies as impassable roads prevent aid trucks from getting to neighborhoods and drivers from getting to their trucks. Read through any number of Facebook pages catering to grassroots Republicans, however, and you’ll get another explanation: The shortages are the fault of local Teamsters Union members who have gone on strike.’
Read more: The Sickening Proof Facebook Remains America’s Single Biggest Purveyor of Fake News
