Environment & Energy
In reply to the discussion: Right wing stepping up attacks on renewable energy [View all]kristopher
(29,798 posts)That is more of an acknowledgement that there is a problem than a wider policy for DU. I suggested that approach for EE in the discussion on hosting back in December, but the intent was wider than DP's focus on just climate, it included also energy; a need amply demonstrated by this thread's OP.
However, what I'm fishing for here is probably broader that would also have quality information on the memes that organized PR campaigns are using to influence public opinion in a range of areas, from energy and climate to health-care reform and things like high fructose corn syrup; or civil rights issues like marriage equality and gun rights. All of these areas are politicized and subject to organized, and rapidly evolving PR campaigns designed to affect the political process through misinforming the public. And although it is very limited sampling, the survey above indicates a trend that people broadly recognize there is a problem.
As I said, elsewhere, I see a number of problems involved with such an effort and I will readily admit that DU might now be doing everything that can reasonably be done. But I've never seen the subject actually discussed transparently to the point of brainstorming possibilities.
The anonymous internet is great in many ways but it also has some very serious pitfalls related to misinformation that are going to destroy it if we, the users, do not figure out a way to address them. The broader problem of ill-informed people innocently sharing their opinions will never go away and we are all guilty of that to one degree or another; but that becomes exponentially worse when it is used as an amplifier for interests with deep pockets.