The January 6 insurrection on the US Capitol highlighted exactly what can happen when misinformation gets out of control
I watched the January 6 storming of the US Capitol building with my heart in my throat and my iPhone in my hand. In the moments I could tear my eyes away from the TV, I was messaging my group chat about what we were collectively witnessing. But when one of my friends shared a tweet accusing the Capitol Police of letting the insurrectionists into the building, I paused. And I encouraged her to wait.
This reaction is a far cry from what I would have done if presented with the same situation five years — or even one year — ago. But in the past year I, like many of us, have done a lot of thinking about online misinformation. Where it starts. How it spreads. And what it does to us, both as individuals and as a society.
The story of the Capitol Police on January 6 is a great example of why we shouldn’t automatically click that “retweet” or “share” button when something enraging crosses our screens. Like so many other important stories, the truth was more complicated than the image of some police officers opening the barriers. Or the video of Officer Eugene Goodman distracting insurrectionists and leading them away from the lawmakers. Or the shooting of Ashli Babbitt as she attempted to breach the Speaker’s Lobby.
It is more complicated because it is all of those things — and more. Because stories and truth are complicated and complex and very, very rarely can be captured in 280 characters or a headline written for maximum clicks. (Or, for that matter, one ..
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