Right wing led lawsuits dismantling disinformation research organizations

Read it and weep. Gym Jordan is working not for the people of his district, but to cut the legs out from research groups that shine the light on internet lies. Specifically political lies. It looks like he and the GOP have been successful.

It is a long article. But we cannot fight what we don’t know. I will be writing a letter to-the editor.

Snip-

The ranks of misinformation researchers swelled following the 2016 elections, amid revelations that Russia had stoked divisions online to help elect Trump. Researchers rooted out attempts by Russia, China and Iran to influence elections on social media. In 2020, they studied how Trump used his social media following to develop one of the world’s most powerful political megaphones — and often used it to spread falsehoods about voting or the pandemic.
Four years later, the field is depleted. The Stanford Internet Observatory, one of the most prominent academic institutions studying misinformation, collapsed last month. Some researchers, burned out by online attacks and legal scrutiny, are fleeing the subject. And companies, philanthropies and other grant-giving institutions are withdrawing funding, spooked by the political controversy now surrounding the field.

https://wapo.st/46AOFxv