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Before 2016, “misinformation” was just another word in the dictionary. As soon as it became clear that Donald Trump’s straight-shooting presidential campaign was serious, and that he would likely become the Republican nominee, “misinformation” became a strategy. Anything that left Trump’s mouth that media pundits or Democrats considered distasteful, or even just phrased in a way a typical politician wouldn’t usually phrase it, became misinformation.
What was posited as a battle against lies became a bitter ideological war that threw out convention and smeared roughly half of the population, not just in the United States but across the West, as dedicated and shameless purveyors of falsehoods. It has proven effective for the side that was willing to so carelessly throw around this term, but it has caused deep divides and damage for a couple of reasons.
First of all, this careless and audacious misuse of the term “misinformation” is damaging because it has redefined how people disagree. Political debate has become sanctimonious lecturing, with one side refusing to accept even the possibility that they might be wrong.
Secondly, the war against “misinformation” has made it difficult to determine what really is or is not true, particularly given the weight thrown behind the now-widespread use of the term by...