From popping up on your grandparents’ Facebook feeds to fueling the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol rioters, misinformation is widespread and here to stay. Social media companies have ramped up initiatives over the past year to stop its spread, but it might not be enough to keep dangerous lies from damaging American democracy.

 Why It’s Newsworthy: Half of Americans identified fake news as one of the largest problems in the country in 2019 and increasingly expect social media companies to take responsibility for the spread of false news on their platforms.  

 

William Newlin, Fabian Munive, Lora Yordanova and Mack Brown are all seniors majoring in journalism in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.