Ffs why do we need arbiters of truth on the internet. We didn't trust in back in the day, why are we under a notion that we can and should trust it today?! Where are people's critical thinking skills?
There were enough people watching television back in the day to determine political power contests, and hey would you look at that there were arbiters of truth there back in the day.
When there are nations working on manipulating people, with presumably significant budgets, you can't really fault people for getting fooled occasionally.
Also because the threat is diffuse, so it’s not as easy to sue for (say) slander as it was with newspapers.
When has this not been the case?
> the threat is diffuse, so it’s not as easy to sue for (say) slander as it was with newspapers.
By this, do you mean that anonymity is preventing lawsuits? Regardless, it's never been easy to sue newspapers and win.
Because otherwise people might believe the wrong lies.