Re:How can the quality of political information be improved?
by iheartblocks on Tuesday January 19, 2021 @01:59PM
(#25837214)
One possibility would be to have a government body fine media outlets and social media platforms that leave people misinformed, or more likely to become extremized.
The largest risk that I see with that plan is that it implies a level of government censorship, something that is an undeniably risky proposition. On one hand, a malevolent political party could wield that power to their own advantage, and on the other hand political gridlock could neuter any real progress being made.
To address this, I'm imagining a new branch of government run via sortition. In this system, qualifying citizens would be selected by lottery, and would serve on a committee to oversee it's proper execution.
This way, companies would have a vested interest in giving their users access to the truth, and an incentive to puncture the knowledge bubble that fosters extremism.
The largest risk that I see with that plan is that it implies a level of government censorship, something that is an undeniably risky proposition. On one hand, a malevolent political party could wield that power to their own advantage, and on the other hand political gridlock could neuter any real progress being made.
To address this, I'm imagining a new branch of government run via sortition. In this system, qualifying citizens would be selected by lottery, and would serve on a committee to oversee it's proper execution.
This way, companies would have a vested interest in giving their users access to the truth, and an incentive to puncture the knowledge bubble that fosters extremism.