Online platforms like Amazon, Facebook, Uber, TikTok and Twitter evolve as they grow and then eventually die, says Cory Doctorow. He calls it enshittification. “First, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, theyabuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.
“Surpluses are first directed to users; then, once they’re locked in, surpluses go to suppliers; then once they’re locked in, the surplus is handed to shareholders and the platform becomes a useless pile of s***. From mobile app stores to Steam, from Facebook to Twitter, this is the enshittification lifecycle.”
Analyses have found that 12 people are responsible for 65 per cent of misleading claims, rumours, and lies about Covid vaccines on social media.
Disinformation is false information which is deliberately intended to mislead. Misinformation is misleading without malicious intent. The Centre for Countering Digital Hate found their impact was most effective on Facebook (accounting for up to 73 per cent of Facebook rumours), but also bleed into Instagram and Twitter.
A scientific study published in Nature found that one in four anti-Covid-19 vaccine tweets originated from the so-called Children’s Health Defence — which is controlled by one man.
