How disinformation corrodes democracy

Democracy suffers hugely when citizens no longer trust or even want to participate in the democratic process, according to Nina Jankowicz, a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center and the author of How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict.

Disinformation is not just a partisan issue; it strikes at the connective tissue of democracy so the forthcoming Summit for Democracy must confront the scourge of false narratives, she writes for Foreign Affairs:

The Biden administration should treat as a matter of urgency the need to get attendees at the democracy summit to make a pledge to eliminate the scourge of domestic disinformation. This understanding would help set in place a standard that would allow international election observers to assess the use of domestic disinformation in elections at all levels, social media companies to make decisions regarding content moderation without being accused of political bias, and voters to confidently evaluate candidates.

Such a standard—which plainly names and describes disinformation as the democratic ill that it is—is necessary to proactively protect democracy against future harmful technological innovations, adds Jankowicz, author of the forthcoming book How to Be a Woman Online: Surviving Abuse and Harassment and How to Fight Back. RTWT