Online disinformation is getting worse but the government and tech giants still aren't doing enough to fight back

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• Disinformation on social media is only getting worse and its leading to real world consequences.
• But the US government and social media companies still aren't doing enough to combat it.
• That needs to change — immediately.
• Brett Bruen was the director of global engagement in the Obama White House and a career American diplomat. He runs the crisis-communications agency Global Situation Room.
• This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

I remember it clearly, during a meeting in the White House Situation Room several senior State Department officials told me to proverbially go to the kids table for attempting to focus the discussion on disinformation. They did not consider soft power to be a hard problem. 

Russia was bombarding Ukraine and other European countries with disinformation. But, the American officials in the room largely dismissed the issue.  They preferred to focus exclusively on arms and the soldiers crossing over the Ukrainian border from Russia.

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SEE ALSO: A slew of former US ambassadors said disinformation is one of the world's biggest problems. It's time companies took the threat just as seriously.

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