Not only are billions of people around the world glued to their mobile phones, but the information they consume has changed dramatically -- and not for the better. On dominant social media platforms like Facebook, researchers have documented that falsehoods spread faster and more widely than similar content that includes accurate information. Though users are not demanding misinformation, the algorithms that determine what people see tend to favour sensational, inaccurate and misleading content, because that is what generates "engagement" and thus advertising revenue.
As internet activist Eli Pariser noted in 2011, Facebook also creates filter bubbles, whereby individuals are more likely to be presented with content that reinforces their own ideological leanings and confirms their own biases. And more recent research has demonstrated that this process has a major influence on the type of information users see.
