Consumer Disinformation
With the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, Russian disinformation captured the headlines for its potential to change the results of an election. While the critical focus in wake of 2016 was on new media platforms, misleading the public is hardly new. Disinformation is an old problem, as old as antiquity and maybe older, impacting many domains beyond politics. Consumer disinformation occurs when a private interest deliberately employs false, biased or misleading information for the purpose of improving the marketability of a consumer product or service. It is common enough that it impacts everyday products and services used by practically every American consumer. Consider some examples.
Progressive communities across the world have implemented plastics recycling as a way to reduce the environmental impact of consumerism. A 2020 report from National Public Radio indicates that the noble intentions of those who carefully clean and sort their disposables is likely in vain. While recycling of a few formats of plastic such as soda bottles can be economically and environmentally sound, for most plastics it is not. NPR reports on the deliberate efforts by the plastics and petroleum industries to exploit the feel-good impact of putting the…
