How the internet is being attacked on multiple fronts of falsehood

When the internet started really taking hold as a common method for getting information, many started to profess that it would be the ultimate truth market. Even before crowdsourcing became a thing, people were converging on the internet to discern information, share stories, and promote an ideological information worldview. Then, the trolls came. The hackers hit. The fearmongers found a home. The internet has now turned into a place where you have as much of a chance of seeing false news as you have of seeing real news. How did this happen?