Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong on Wednesday advocated for a change in how people consume news on social media, calling misinformation and how it's spread the "cancer of our time."

"The short attention span we're creating in this millennium is actually very dangerous," said Soon-Shiong, the new owner of the Los Angeles Times. "It's the unintended consequences of social media."

Soon-Shiong, also chairman and CEO of biotech firm NantKwest, was responding to a question about the state of media and its relationship to social networks.