Obama warns misinformation threatens democracy

Former President Barack Obama warned that misinformation is threatening democracy around the world and social media companies must do stop the spread of online falsehoods and conspiracy theories.

Obama said that during a symposium on campus at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

He said autocrats around the world are using misinformation to subvert democracy, and social media companies must be held accountable and must be more transparent about the algorithms that determine what kind of content its users see.