.org

In recent years, there has been a lot of talk about how people can avoid falling for misinformation. One point that has been brought up is that people trust the .org domain more than they should. .org is a fairly easy domain to obtain for a website, and even non-profit organizations can have an agenda. This brings up an interesting question. Why would anyone assume that non-profit organizations are trustworthy?

More than likely, the issue here comes down to money. We live in a society that views an interest in money as inherently evil. Non-profit organizations aren't supposed to have that problem, so there appears to be no reason for dishonesty.

There are a lot of problems with this narrative. For starters, wanting to get something back for an investment is not inherently evil. Yes, people who are money obsessed can take things too far in an attempt to maximize wealth, but a desire for profitability is a distinctly different concept than dishonesty. Although everyone is biased, the involvement of money doesn't necessarily mean that people are going to actively spread lies out of greed.

Another issue comes down to a simple question. What is a non-profit organization? In short, it's an organization that has no investors, so there is no need to provide anyone with profits. This does not mean that money is not involved. Most high-profile non-profit organizations have highly paid executives. The more money they bring in, the more money they can potentially earn for themselves. If money is responsible for dishonesty, then non-profit organizations definitely have a reason to lie.

There are also factors beyond money. Some organizations such as the NEA and AFT are obsessed with maximizing their power. Like greed, power also has the potential to corrupt. Organizations that are in a position to mold the minds of 90 percent of the population certainly have an incentive to deceive. In fact, the NEA and AFT, organizations that use the .org domain, are much bigger spreaders of misinformation than a vast majority of for-profit businesses.