Disinformation aside, let's just consider for a second that people may be simply consuming information that they want to hear, rather than taking in information that the media thinks or wants them to hear.
People are too much in love with their beliefs - critical thinking problem.
The problem I see is one "alternate reality" starts to censor another "alternate reality".
It's just a new form of warfare. The war for control of your mind and the shaping of beliefs about reality.
A world where truth isn't part of the information or power structure means that He which controls the narrative controls reality. Arguably more terrifying that some false options and beliefs in the world.
See also the power of the default option.
Perhaps someone has a strong opinion about a thing. They -know- they are right, and every news source is wrong. Until they find one also right. So far, we agree, that's what they want to hear.
But they keep turning to this source, who is spreading wild theories and untruths in other facets. But they were so right about issue X, they must be right about this too!
I think this pretty much sums up why so many 'conservatives' ended up unvaccinated. I cannot imagine that they set out wanting to hear that vaccines are unsafe or will give you microchips. Something/someone they trusted led them down this awful path.
As much as I support free speech, the last few years have really shown me the dangers of it, as well. But how can you regulate? Any arbiter is going to have a bias.
As a bonus, you can then get the enemy country to think the pandemic is brought by immigrants, or was invented by its own internal enemies, as a way of pushing for civil war or at least continuous, aggrieved, domestic terrorism. The pandemic has all kinds of uses if you control the discourse and can find something to blame. It becomes a natural disaster or some kind of pervasive biological weapon that you don't even have to deploy… just foster and nurture.