Wisdom of the Crowd: Multistakeholder Perspectives on the Fake News Debate

Abstract

Social media platforms are increasingly accused of shaping public debate and engineering people’s behavior in ways that might undermine the democratic process. In order to vitalize a much-needed multistakeholder dialogue on corrective measures against the spread of false information, this project has undertaken a truncated multistakeholder consultation, addressing experts from academia, civil society, governments and the industry to assess diverging perspectives on institutional proposals, legislative responses, and self- regulation resolutions that have sprung up around the world. It also asks what new challenges platform moderation and related “fake news” issues pose to what might be called the “procedural fitness” of the current multistakeholder internet governance system. Finally, it suggests recommendations for architectural changes that could promote constructive and inclusive debate on the topic.

Keywords: fake news, misinformation, social media, platforms, online content regulation, internet governance, multistakeholder governance, procedural fitness, Terms of Services, chilling effects, censorship, digital literacy, media literacy, civil society