It is people, not the platform. Every communication medium has been used to spread misinformation. Why did you not look at where the story was actually being spread?
Of course it is people. But at the risk of bringing up one of our nation's greatest shames, it's like the gun violence issue. No guns do not kill. Out of control, emotional, crazy and evil people kill WITH guns. They would not be able to do the damage they do without the tool.
Here, the tool is social media platforms.
Generally, you could always count on mainstream print or broadcast news media to not make it up as they went along (at least prior to FOX and MSNBC and CNBC and, in the last decade, CNN) the BS 'liberal media' bias aside.
Rumour gets taken as news on these new platforms and the old ones, decimated by Wall Street's bottom line and people tuning out of traditional media, pick up the info and run with it. Never has so much misinformation, lies and PR/propaganda been touted as 'news'.
The fact that every medium has been used in the past for misinformation is only on-point if you wish to argue that the new platforms are adding more to society than they are taking away. You can do so, but ultimately it is simply one opinion vs. another and neither of us are likely to change our opinions.
As to where I was looking, I saw the story spreading thru Twitter. So, for me, the originator of the story was Twitter. And I think FB is just as vile, if not more so than Twitter.
I mean how could they be good when everyone from the US government to Wall Street to TWDC want you to use them, right?
