Google and Facebook have an adverse impact on local communities by leading to the demise of local journalism and by using their market dominance to skew the market against local businesses, found a report by the American Economic Liberties Project (AELP). The paper points out that thousands of local news outlets have closed down across the US in the past decade. Google and Facebook have been unable to fill this vacuum and instead have populated it with misinformation and misleading commentary. The paper, authored by AELP's director for state and local policy Pat Garofalo, argues that both tech giants have a debilitating effect on local communities by undermining the people's ability to access good local information, and instead provides them with commentary and conspiracy. Decline of local journalism and news industry The report highlighted the contribution of local papers in local community and decisions. For instance, a small town in Massachusetts, where local papers have shut down, was to vote on a proposal for floating bonds to raise funds for two schools. However, commenters on a local Facebook group spread misinformation about the proposal. Simultaneously, a local committee funded by a local mall ran targeted advertisements against the initiative. The proposal was ultimately voted down. The report noted that dedicated local news outlet could have been able to provide accurate information on the matter, instead of leaving people with no information but propaganda on social media platforms. The lack of local news coverage has many adverse impacts for local governance…
