Fighting misinformation requires fixing both algorithms and society
A new analysis argues that platform governance alone won't solve the information crisis gripping democracies. Instead, policymakers must simultaneously tackle how social media works and build public resilience to false information—treating the problem as a societal ecosystem rather than a tech problem alone.
Originaltitel: Engaging in civic dialogue or opinion battles? The epistemic risks informed approach to platform governance
<p>In this chapter, I examine the risks and consequences of platformisation through the lens of building societal resilience to information disruptions. The current epistemic crisis – driven by disinformation and the dominance of dysfunctional communication (e.g., hate speech and related antisocial online behaviours) – serves here as an illustration of key epistemic risks: uncertainty, distorted and false beliefs, and people’s misdirected attention. These risks should be central when framing platform governance proposals aimed at fostering informed opinions and engaged digital citizenship. The argument suggests that digitally sustained “societal resilience” is inherently ecosystemic; therefore, national policies must address people’s social and (dis)information-related vulnerabilities in a coordinated manner, focusing on structural and algorithmic features of platforms and information “supply”, on the one hand, while also considering the life experiences, worldviews, and individual capacities of people shaping information “demand”, on the other.</p>