Trump is drowning in the misinformation swamp he helped create
CNN
The racist misinformation about Haitian immigrants on the presidential debate stage underscored the grim reality of the 2024 internet: Misinformation is everywhere.
The Republican nominee for president went on live TV and presented an unhinged, debunked Facebook rumor as fact. When corrected (several times) by a moderator, Donald Trump doubled down: “The people on television say their dog was eaten by the people that went there.” “They’re eating the dogs,” quickly became a punchline among commentators who understand that the whole story about Haitian immigrants eating people’s pets in Ohio was a lie, rooted in a well-established racist history. It’s the kind of outrage-bait that, while disgusting, is hardly unexpected on Facebook these days. But the claim’s elevation to the presidential debate stage underscores a grim reality about the internet in 2024: Misinformation is everywhere, platforms are giving up on moderation and AI is making it all worse. Trump’s debate performance “was like a 4chan post come to life,” said CNN’s Jake Tapper. It’s an apt analogy.
Over the past two decades, the free-to-use online encyclopedia has carried on with its mission, expanding its global community of volunteer editors, known as Wikipedians, and ultimately resisting the kinds of platform decay that have claimed other 2000s-era internet phenoms.
The bond market can be so intimidating that in the 1980s, economist Ed Yardeni dubbed these outraged investors the “bond vigilantes” for their role in preserving law and order in capital markets if government officials won’t.
Martin Johnson and his fiancé, Caleigh Chapman, had spent several years restoring and renovating their home in Altadena by hand. It took only hours to lose the home and everything in it last week.
As Supreme Court justices ponder the future of TikTok in the United States, a growing number of American social media users have responded by moving to an unlikely alternative: Xiaohongshu, a hugely popular social media app in China.
The proposal, if approved by Apple shareholders, would require the company to considering removing its DEI programs.
Southern California Edison, the electrical utility for Los Angeles, has been sued for its alleged role in starting one of the raging Los Angeles fires that have collectively killed at least 24 people and displaced tens of thousands of people from their homes.
Opposition is quickly forming against the Biden administration’s rule to ban medical debt from appearing on consumers’ credit reports, threatening the viability of what could be a popular regulation.
Rachel Maddow is returning to the anchor chair five nights a week.
Walmart is giving its logo the first facelift in nearly two decades, rolling out a new identity that is a subtle nod to its past.
Japan Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba asked U.S. President Joe Biden to allay concerns in the Japanese and U.S. business communities over the status of Nippon Steel’s 5401.T planned acquisition of U.S. Steel
Facebook is full of AI slop. X is full of “free thinkers” peddling conspiracies. Google’s search results are telling us to eat rocks. More and more, it feels like the internet has gone bad.
Veteran opinion columnist Jennifer Rubin is becoming the latest in a long list of Washington Post figures to leave the troubled institution.
Just hours after Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg announced last Tuesday that the social media giant would eliminate its US-based fact-checkers, the iconic hills above Los Angeles began to smolder.
Kohl’s is closing 27 stores across more than a dozen states as the struggling retailer looks to improve profitability.
The Biden administration has issued new restrictions on the export of US-developed computer chips that power artificial intelligence (AI) systems, in a final effort to prevent rivals like China from accessing the advanced technology, just a week before leaving office.
China’s exports gained momentum in December, with imports also showing recovery, though strength at the year-end was in part fueled by factories rushing inventory overseas as they braced for heightened trade risks under a Trump presidency.
The company’s oversight co-chair said he would have liked to have seen changes made during “less contentious and partisan times so that they would be considered on the merits.”
Tens of thousands of California residents will be forced to decide whether to permanently relocate or face construction bills after a wildfire crisis that’s weakened California’s insurance.