I disagree with Schmidt. Misinformation is spreading because trust in institutions is eroding. This eroding trust is because of <i>transparency</i> and improved information dissemination. Most people don't trust the news anymore because it can easily be seen how biased they are. They don't trust institutions because they see how partisan most are.<p>You can't just ban or regulate social media and expect the toothpaste to just magically go back into the tube. Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are doing their best to suppress information that goes against the popular narrative, but that's not helping me trust those narratives more, but instead making me trust those internet companies less.<p>Address the issue of trust, and you can fix the real issues here. Not "idiot" amplification.
Doesn't google filter search results for you based on your what it thinks you want to see? That should also be included in the list of "amplifier for idiots"
Misinformation is spreading because social networks (and Google search) AIs are tuned to improve users engagement.
This causes exponential confirmation bias.
So misinformation is created to feed the ‘idiots’ engagement.
I think this could be generalized to "amplifiers for everyone". There's just no barrier of entry left, except time and effort, to get your message out to millions of people.
Hypocrisy and PR spin aside, he’s not wrong. I think, on the balance, that social networks are a net negative development for humanity and should be destroyed.