Trust and Online Interaction

Abstract

The Internet’s initial architecture was not designed with modern use cases in mind. Rather, it was designed by researchers to support the work of the research community. As a consequence, the Internet was built upon an implicit assumption that its users could, by and large, trust one another, and that violations of that trust could be dealt with by “offline” means. Today the Internet is a post-trust environment, often bringing people with divergent values and goals together – including people who intend to harm, use, or take from others. This article draws from legal and economic theory to identify mechanisms that are necessary for individuals to embrace interactions intermediated by untrustworthy platforms, and considering how these mechanisms may be implemented online.