The problem is the signal to noise ratio is getting so bad that you don’t know what information to trust.
This is another euphemism for hearing ideas you disagree with. You choose who to friend/follow/read. Occasionally those people will say things you don't agree with.
> you don’t know what information to trust
Just because someone landed a job at [fill in traditional media outlet] does not make them more trustworthy. You're simply being exposed to the reality that their bullshit is just as much bullshit as everything else.
Was this Russia?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/2003/02/06/i...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/11/15/faceboo...
Verified by multiple sources. "Facebook said it had found and removed roughly 1.5 billion fake accounts" surely doesn't suggest they're all literally Russian, or bots, but they sure were fake and spreading propaganda.
It's very simple - anyone can assert anything, thus each individual must take it upon themselves to be skeptical of the assertion, or blindly agree with it.
The real problem you're getting at here is that many people are dumb, and may be made to believe anything.
If these people became skeptical or were simply deleted from reality, such bots would have no value.
The most important thing is to get off Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, etc, find some independent news sites you like, and be very skeptical.