{"id":5518,"date":"2025-12-20T21:40:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T21:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=5518"},"modified":"2025-12-20T21:40:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T21:40:15","slug":"bill-gates-says-misinformation-is-the-burden-passed-to-children-after-daughter-harassed-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=5518","title":{"rendered":"Bill Gates says misinformation is the burden passed to children, after daughter harassed online"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There are many problems billionaire tech tycoon Bill Gates is hoping to help solve: eradicating polio, water sanitization, and agricultural development to name a few. But one frontier he worries is being passed on to future generations is misinformation.<\/p>\n

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Misinformation is a problem, the Microsoft cofounder said, that we are \u201chanding to the younger generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to CNBC Make It, Gates, worth $118 billion per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, said he had been naive to assume that \u201cwhen we made information available, that people would want correct information.\u201d<\/p>\n

A high-profile figure himself, Gates has seen scrutiny extend to his family. His daughter Phoebe, in particular, has struggled with being harassed online. <\/p>\n

\u201cHearing my daughter talk about how she\u2019d been harassed online, and how her friends experienced that quite a bit, brought that into focus in a way that I hadn\u2019t thought about before,\u201d\u00a0Gates\u2014a father of three\u2014continued.<\/p>\n

Gates\u2019 youngest daughter\u2014co-founder of AI shopping tool Phia\u2014has previously spoken about misconceptions surrounding her family and relationships, including being \u201cmemed for being in an interracial relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

An internet meme is an image or video, usually intended to be humorous, that is spread online.<\/p>\n

Despite being aware of how misinformation is spreading online, Gates said he can understand\u00a0why certain audiences flock to platforms\u00a0that<\/span> reflect their views\u2014a phenomenon known as confirmation bias.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have context where we want correct information, like hopefully when we want medical advice,\u201d Gates said. \u201cBut then we kind of like, in our community and enclave, have these shared views that kind of pull us together.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained: \u201cEven I will wallow. Let\u2019s say there\u2019s a politician I don\u2019t like, and there\u2019s some article online criticizing him a little bit. I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s such a good critique, [and] I enjoyed reading it, even if it was exaggerated.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

AI could help curb misinformation<\/h2>\n

Gates\u2019 probing questions about how to control the spread of incorrect information online may be at odds with the take of fellow billionaire Elon Musk.<\/p>\n

Gates said in the interview: \u201cWe should have free speech. But if you\u2019re inciting violence, if you\u2019re causing people not to take vaccines, where are those boundaries? Even the U.S. should have rules, and then if you have rules, what is it? Is it some AI that encodes those rules? You have billions in activity, and if you catch it a day later the harm is done.\u201d<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time Gates has proposed the emerging technology as a tool against misinformation and deepfakes (images and videos which are incredibly realistic but are not authentic).<\/p>\n

In a blog post on his website, GatesNotes, in July 2023, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation cofounder wrote: \u201cThis will be a cyclical process: Someone finds a way to detect fakery, someone else figures out how to counter it, someone else develops counter-countermeasures, and so on.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt won\u2019t be a perfect success, but we won\u2019t be helpless either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elon Musk\u2019s take on freedom of speech<\/h2>\n

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and owner of X\u2014the platform previously known as Twitter\u2014is a free-speech absolutist who is unlikely to appreciate the notion of rules being placed on what he, or others, can say.<\/p>\n

Musk believes freedom of speech is the \u201cbedrock of democracy\u201d and has vowed to battle apparent censorship of his platform.<\/p>\n

That being said, a debate over how to control misinformation wouldn\u2019t be the first time the views of Musk and Gates have been at odds. In July 2024, for example, Musk threatened Gates would be \u201cobliterated\u201d for apparently holding a bearish position on Tesla stock. Fortune<\/em> could not confirm whether Gates still owns a short position on the EV maker.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Gates has said his management style is better than that of Musk\u2014a boss he believes may push \u201ctoo hard.\u201d Meanwhile, Musk has claimed Gates doesn\u2019t understand artificial intelligence, saying his insight on the topic is \u201climited.\u201d<\/p>\n

More recently, the tech titans have been at loggerheads over Musk\u2019s work at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE.) In January 2025, Gates said he hoped some of the foreign aid and personnel cuts enacted by DOGE would be rolled back: \u201cElon I think said \u2018Yeah, we made a mistake, we went overboard,\u2019 but \u2026 what is the equilibrium? How many of those people can be kept so we can continue to save tens of millions of lives?\u201d Gates also accused Musk of some \u201cinsane\u201d political interference in 2025. <\/p>\n

In November, Musk revived the bad blood between the pair, writing on X that if Gates hadn\u2019t closed out his alleged \u201ccrazy short position\u201d against Tesla, \u201che had better do so soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seems misinformation may just be another of many topics on which the billionaires will have to agree to disagree.<\/p>\n

More on Bill Gates: <\/strong><\/p>\n