Freedom of Political Communication and Computational Propaganda

Abstract

Abstract Freedom of political communication on the internet now exists in the context of an explosion of disinformation, propaganda, and hate speech that has been accelerated by a largely unregulated social media in which social bots, AI, and so on, are used. While there is a presumption in favour of freedom of political communication in liberal democracies, this right brings with it a moral responsibility to comply with principles of evidence-based truth telling. How can disinformation, propaganda, and hate speech be countered without compromising the right to freedom of political communication? Ethical analysis of freedom of communication, disinformation, and ideology are provided. Various practical recommendations are offered for policymakers and regulators with an emphasis on the role to be played by epistemic institutions, such as news media organizations and universities, in the context of a more effectively regulated cyberspace.