Misinformation has existed throughout history. From a fake story circulating in the 1400s that resulted in the death of 15 Jewish people to a broadcast of a fake alien invasion, fake news has been around as long as real news. With the progression of technology, the spread of misinformation has become easier than ever. So it is more important than ever to know what misinformation is and even more important to know why to stop it.
           It does not help that the government and media seem unable to discern what misinformation is. When the virus of 2019 came around, many social media platforms restricted speech about it to prevent spreading misinformation about it. However, they have never enforced such action against obesity, a more significant killer. In fact, some social media, like TikTok, has content that encourages obesity, using hashtags such as #glorifyobesity.
           That is not the worst of it. The American government has recently been instating legislation “protecting” transgender youth. However, the evidence suggests that the legislation being instated will not only not fix the problem, but it will further the problem even more, leading to the deaths of many youths. 
           Then again, how is someone supposed to know what is true or not on the internet anymore? With the level of technology we have in the modern era, we can make highly realistic fake photos of people, generate the voices of people saying things they never said, or even use CGI to fake a person into a video doing whatever we want them to do.
           The way misinformation in America is dangerous and must be stopped. It has ruined the lives of thousands or even millions of people and will ruin even more unless it is stopped.