Truth Suits: Litigating Against The Viral Spread Of Disinformation

Before the term "super spreader" became inseparable from the coronavirus, it was sometimes used to describe individuals (and artificial intelligence) responsible for the "viral" spread of online information. That parallel is sensible. In many ways, disinformation and viruses are similar: A germ of an idea passes from a host to direct contacts who (knowingly or unknowingly) contaminate their own contacts, thereby perpetuating an exponential spread that is difficult to contain.

Disinformation has serious consequences for democracy, national security, public health, and individual rights. Increasingly, victims are attempting to combat disinformation via litigation. Litigation is an imperfect and inefficient tool for most victims of disinformation. Federal and state laws were not designed to combat the viral spread of information in the modern social media ecosystem. Thus, for the foreseeable future, victims' ability to challenge the spread of disinformation will