Project: RECLAIM

• Disinformation campaigns on social media are aimed at disrupting liberal democracies, creating distrust amongst citizens in their democratic institutions and intensifying political/affective polarisation.
• The spread of disinformation and ‘fake news’ – particularly on social media – undermines the public sphere and severely inhibits the ability of citizens to communicate and to engage in genuine democratic debate and deliberation.
• Some degree of social media regulation – including stipulating algorithmic transparency and community driven fact-checking large-language models (LLMs) – as well as creating alternative digital public forums and democratic accountability bodies, will be needed to strengthen the public sphere and re-engage citizens in democratic dialogue.