Countering information pollution to protect democracy

Abstract

The increasing sophistication and accessibility of artificial intelligence (AI), including the generation of deep fakes, exacerbates the challenges of information pollution by making it harder to discern truth from falsehood, thus manipulating public perception. This policy brief presents international initiatives and critically discusses the tools available to combat information pollution. The focus of approaches to counter information pollution needs to be broadened. Instead of narrowly focusing on politically controversial content moderation, content-neutral intervention tools should receive more attention, and the potential of AI tools to scale up these interventions should be considered. Policy- makers and advisors need to be mindful of context sensitivity. There is no one-size- fits-all solution, and effective tools in some contexts may backfire in others.