Conclusion: a resurgence of Misinformation in the Digital Age

Abstract

The chapter concludes with observations pertinent to misinformation as the digital and media space evolves. The Coronavirus pandemic has deprivileged physical relationality relocating much of social, economic and political lives to the virtual and digital. This has in turn enabled the rise of new agents engaged in scale-making projects by redrawing boundaries of trust and authority. Scale serves as a litmus test for authentic information while contracting and expanding to reduce global and local digital media to the same space. Donald Trump exploited his charismatic authority to deliver misinformation to journalists that amplified his message and fueled online conspiracy theories. Distrust of authority allowed for the weaponization of information through fostering favorable conditions for dubious data, political disinformation, fictions and propaganda. Misinformation in the digital space is a form of information pollution that relies on new agencies of power to enroll new audiences and new locations. We end the book with a call for collective knowledge-making through peer editorial triage than an algorithmic response to dubious data.