Building Back Truth in an Age of Misinformation

This book provides solutions to build back truth online by prioritizing value over profit, strengthening community ties, and promoting access to trustworthy information. It explains the problem of misinformation within the context of "information disorder" and offers a road map with six paths forward to address it. The book emphasizes the importance of repairing journalism and strengthening curation to promote trusted content and create new healthier digital public squares.

Format: Hardback
Length: 206 pages
Publication date: 15 March 2023
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

This book delves into the critical issue of rebuilding truth online, offering practical solutions to address the challenges posed by existing social media platforms. It emphasizes the importance of prioritizing value over profit, strengthening community ties, and promoting access to trustworthy information. The author explains that the problem of misinformation is part of a broader phenomenon known as "information disorder," and proposes six paths forward to understand how platforms are designed to exploit users, cultivate agency, reduce harmful practices, prioritize the public good, repair journalism, and strengthen curation.

The book highlights the need for a comprehensive and connected strategy to address misinformation. It presents new, experimental models that are ethically designed to build community and promote trustworthy content, with some early successes. The author emphasizes that human social networks, both online and offline, have the power to magnify whatever they are seeded with, and that to repair our systems, we must address their design.

Furthermore, the book notes that a growing number of individuals, driven by a desire for integrity and public values, are leaving big tech companies in search of vocations that align with these principles. The author believes that the fight against misinformation is not insurmountable, and that with collective action and innovative solutions, we can rebuild trust and restore the integrity of online communication.

Overall, this book provides a valuable roadmap for rebuilding truth online, emphasizing the importance of ethical design, community building, and prioritizing the public good. It offers hope for a more informed and empowered digital society.

Weight: 490g
Dimension: 232 x 161 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781538163146