It is fall now, and out west, the aspens are turning. In this case, it’s the Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder, a group of smart, powerful, and/or ex-royal people tasked with figuring out how to tackle the misinformation seemingly endemic to modern digital life.

Today, they turned out their final report, summing up their findings and making 15 recommendations for improvement — what it calls “key, measurable actions.”

Before we get to the commission’s recommendations, let’s look at its summary of the status quo, what the report calls “key insights and context,” with excerpts from each.

Disinformation is a symptom; the disease is complex structural inequities.

Mis- and disinformation do not exist in a vacuum. The spread of false and misleading narratives, the incitement of division and hate, and the erosion of trust have a long history, with corporate, state actor, and political persuasion techniques employed to maintain power and profit, create harm, and/or advance political or ideological goals. Malicious actors use cheap and accessible methods to deliberately spread and amplify harmful information…False narratives can sow division, hamper public health initiatives, undermine elections, or deliver fresh marks to grifters and profiteers, and they capitalize on deep-rooted problems within American society. Disinformation pours lighter fluid on the sparks of discord that exist in every community.

Read the full article about fighting disinformation by Joshua Benton at Nieman Lab.