The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

You are probably spreading misinformation. Here’s how to stop.

A citizen’s guide to not helping trolls, bots and other online disinformers during turbulent times

Perspective by
Columnist|
June 5, 2020 at 7:00 a.m. EDT
(Erick M. Ramos for The Washington Post)

Everyone knows you shouldn’t feed a troll. But more than ever, you should go out of your way not to retweet, share or follow one, either.

First came the pandemic. Now we’re facing an infodemic. Misinformation from so-called trolls, bots and other online agitators is spiking about the death of George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests, following a tsunami of falsehoods about the coronavirus. And the people who care most intensely about those issues may be inadvertently spreading it further — a hard-learned lesson from social media meddling in the 2016 and 2018 elections.