Problem Statement

New technological means of communication have impacted human discourse in ways few could have anticipated or understood just a few short years ago. It is easy to forget that what we know as social media are only about two decades old.

Although largely beneficial, communication technology has exposed the vulnerabilities apparent in peoples’ abilities to discern facts from fiction, truth from lies, and good intent from malicious intent. In response, these new participants in our communication ecosystems have, through intentional design, allowed for the exploitation of people’s preconceived and subliminal needs, creating disturbing patterns of reinforcement resulting in increasingly polarizing misperception, fear, anger, and alienation from those perceived to be different from themselves.

As a result, a rapidly polarizing United States is itself facing the most dangerous existential threat as a surviving nation-state since its inception. Representative government is messy to begin with, and the experiment of the American “melting pot” has always faced challenges—in corralling corruption, racial and gender bias, along with many other issues—to uphold civil liberties. The objective of doing so is to give the ultimate gift: Real choice of citizens in choosing their leaders through free and fair elections. But today we face a new and fast-moving set of conditions, and there is little comfort that regulation or self-policing by the beneficiaries of this new communications ecosystem can be sufficient to create a stable system in the near future.

Perhaps it has always been the case that some declared truths are not based upon facts, that many opinions are one-sided, and that information campaigns have been built around propaganda. Misinformation is not new, but digital media and cable news have amplified its presence and extended its reach and speed of transmission, creating a powerful disruption. There is an abundance of research documenting why misinformation is created, how it is spread, and which populations are most susceptible. Still, no solutions to date clearly address the full magnitude of the problem. Ultimately, we will need to design solutions that focus on minimizing the confusion and fear caused by misinformation, as well as the stronghold it has over its recipients. But first, we must understand exactly what is going on. There is little time to spare.