Let me try to steelman this fear (which I mostly disagree with):
Social media was originally thought to be a radical force for democratic change—see the Arab Spring, for instance.
The objective of disinformation was never to change minds, but to reduce trust in anonymous online interactions. See Russia’s human-based propaganda methods.
Thus, disinformation blunts the value proposition of social media platforms in allowing individuals to coordinate political action.
So it’s really an opportunity cost we’re talking about here in preventing social media from achieving its full potential—which may have been oversold in the first place.
My own view is that very few actors will attempt to target “political trust” as an abstract force. Instead, we should be significantly more concerned about financially-motivated scams targeting individuals.
Let me try to steelman this fear (which I mostly disagree with):
Social media was originally thought to be a radical force for democratic change—see the Arab Spring, for instance.
The objective of disinformation was never to change minds, but to reduce trust in anonymous online interactions. See Russia’s human-based propaganda methods.
Thus, disinformation blunts the value proposition of social media platforms in allowing individuals to coordinate political action.
So it’s really an opportunity cost we’re talking about here in preventing social media from achieving its full potential—which may have been oversold in the first place.
My own view is that very few actors will attempt to target “political trust” as an abstract force. Instead, we should be significantly more concerned about financially-motivated scams targeting individuals.