'Othello' to pizzagate: How social media misinformation plays out like a Shakespearean tragedy

In March, a New York state judge ruled that a lawsuit could go forward against several social media companies alleging that the platforms contributed to the radicalization of a gunman who killed 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York in 2022. 

The lawsuit claims companies like Meta, Reddit and 4Chan “profit from the racist, antisemitic and violent material displayed on their platforms in order to maximize user engagement.” However, the platforms say they are instead merely message boards containing third-party content and should not be held liable for what others post. 

While the case itself won’t likely see the inside of a courtroom for years, it has sparked a debate on just how culpable - and calculating - social media platforms really are. 

Hamed Qahri-Saremi is an Assistant Professor of Computer Information Systems in Colorado State University’s College of Business. He recently collaborated on a new theory that social media misinformation might actually be taking a page from Shakespearean tragedies.