Rudolph W. Giuliani said he still had “legal defenses” in a case brought by two election workers who said he had defamed them as he asserted that the 2020 election was marred by fraud.
It’s important to note that the #1 rule of Misinformation is: Be First.
The information doesn’t have to be accurate, verifiable, etc., it just has to Be First and it’ll get repeated often enough that people will start to believe that it’s true. “Oh Shirley, how can ‘Biden Eats Babies’ be wrong when I’ve already seen 18 shared posts on my wall this morning [Meta/Facebook] talking about it. I’ve received 3 e-mails from other family members talking about it. Why I even saw 4 articles on my favorite websites last night and this morning reporting on it. They can’t all be wrong!”
Then when the truth tries to assert itself there’s so much noise that it gets drowned out.
It’s important to note that the #1 rule of Misinformation is: Be First.
The information doesn’t have to be accurate, verifiable, etc., it just has to Be First and it’ll get repeated often enough that people will start to believe that it’s true. “Oh Shirley, how can ‘Biden Eats Babies’ be wrong when I’ve already seen 18 shared posts on my wall this morning [Meta/Facebook] talking about it. I’ve received 3 e-mails from other family members talking about it. Why I even saw 4 articles on my favorite websites last night and this morning reporting on it. They can’t all be wrong!”
Then when the truth tries to assert itself there’s so much noise that it gets drowned out.
A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on.