Engaging in civic dialogue or opinion battles? The epistemic risks informed approach to platform governance
Responsible organisation
2026 (English)In: Digital Media Shadowing Democracy: Technology, Communication, and Power / [ed] A. Balčytienė, P. Bajomi-Lázár, & H. Sousa, Nordicom, University of Gothenburg , 2026, p. 171-194Chapter in book (Refereed)
Abstract [en]
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.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Nordicom, University of Gothenburg , 2026. p. 171-194
Keywords [en]
epistemic crisis, epistemic risk, (dis)information vulnerability, societal resilience, platform governance
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Research subject
Media
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:norden:org:diva-13757DOI: 10.48335/9789189864290-9OAI: oai:DiVA.org:norden-13757DiVA, id: diva2:2058055
Note
Conceptual ideas discussed in this chapter were developed within the frameworks of several research studies and empirical analyses. The concept of vulnerability and societal resilience was tested in the projects DIGIRES (http://digires.lt, 2021–2022) and BECID (Baltic Engagement Center for Combatting Information Disruptions, Grant agreement ID: 101084073, 2022-2025). Risks to informational integrity, social cohesion, and responsible communication were further explored in TRANSINTEGRAL (“Transmedialios komunikacijos modelis žiniasklaidos atsparumui ir visuomenės informaciniam integralumui pasiekti”, a project financed by the Lithuanian Research Council, LMTLT, S-VIS-23-20, 2023-2025) and DIACOMET (Fostering Capacity Building for Civic Resilience and Participation: Dialogic Communication Ethics and Accountability, Grant agreement ID: 101094816, 2023–2026) projects.
2026-05-122026-05-06