TACKLING FAKE NEWS, MISINFORMATION

Without undermining democracy by curtailing freedom of speech

Information is the lifeblood of the modern world, yet getting information that can be trusted is becoming increasingly difficult because of vested interests at one end, while anonymity makes all feedback, reviews and commentary suspect at the other.

The result is information chaos and a world where we no longer know who or what to trust. Without trust there can be no common ground. Without common ground there can be no civil society.

Attempts at tackling the problem through legislation and censorship are not just futile but counterproductive.

In response to the deluge of fake news, misinformation and disinformation governments are enacting legislation that can potentially do more harm than good, as the Australian Human Rights Commission warns:

There are inherent dangers in allowing any one body – whether it be a government department or social media platform – to determine what is and is not censored content. The risk here is that efforts to combat misinformation and disinformation could be used to legitimise attempts to restrict public debate and censor unpopular opinions.

... If we fail to ensure robust safeguards for freedom of expression online, then the measures taken to combat misinformation and disinformation could themselves risk undermining Australia’s democracy and freedoms.

PByT flips the script on government regulation by transforming information chaos into information order through verifiable and analyzable feedback, utilizing mathematical concepts like Bayesian analysis to help improve decision-making both individually and collectively.

The PByT concept opens the path to marshalling global opinion for the common good based on a common vision. This will provide a new mechanism for resolving global conflicts, while ending the scourge of fake news, misinformation and disinformation by extending real world controls to online behavior.