When do policies designed to combat “disinformation” do more harm than good? Almost every time, I told a parliamentary inquiry into the future of news yesterday.
The internet teems with claims and ideas, some dubious and downright false. But the risks of censorship are greater: attempts by government and big tech to control the narrative and shut down ideas or questions they don’t like invariably foster more mistrust. It happened through Trump and Covid: theories classified as “disinformation” turned out to be true; people responded by embracing cynicism and conspiracy.
The solutions have become more sinister than the problem. An entire ecosystem of companies, not-for-profits and government agencies has sprung up, many staffed by activists, dedicated to classifying wrongspeak and shutting it down.
Among the
