Freedom of Political Communication, Propaganda and the Role of Epistemic Institutions in Cyberspace

Abstract

This article provides definitions of fake news, hate speech and propaganda, respectively. These phenomenon are corruptive of the epistemic norms, e.g. to tell the truth. It also elaborates on the right to freedom of communication and its relation both to censoring propaganda and to the role of epistemic institutions, such as a free and independent press and universities. Finally, it discusses the general problem of countering political propaganda in cyberspace and argues, firstly, that there is an important role for epistemic institutions in this regard and secondly, that social media platforms need to be redesigned since, as they stand and notwithstanding the benefits which they provide, they are a large part of the problem.