Misinformation: Political Battle or Practical Problem?

Abstract

In recent years there has been an explosion of attention towards disinformation, misinformation, fake news and everything in between. What it is, who is responsible for it, what the consequences are and what the adequate response looks like has been discussed at great length. This master's thesis seeks to contribute with perspectives on how misinformation is perceived as a problem, and how it creates different notions about the most appropriate handling of (mis)information in society. To investigate this, I ask how the European Commission’s relevant action plans attempt to control the spread of misinformation; how Danish independent media relate to misinformation; and ultimately how the position we recognize as a “conspiracy theorist” creates and is created. To answer this, I mobilize different theoretical terms and theories. First of all, borrowing from Luhmann’s system theory and the concept of steering technologies (Luhmann, 1996; Luhmann, 1997), I analyze how the European Commission’s action plans are attempting to create radically new opportunities when steering on potentializing techniques, notably on journalistic quality and capacity (Andersen, 2017). Also, I identify how the action plans invite independent media, citizens and member states to cooperate, creating precarious and unstable power relations through the appeal for self-steering. Secondly, through Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory I analyze how Danish independent media deal with misinformation in practice by articulating the relationship between classical journalism and the Tech Giants (Laclau & Mouffe, 1985; Laclau & Mouffe, 2002). From this perspective, that relationship is the nexus of the political struggle to counter misinformation. I showcase how the hegemonic battle and the discourse of classical journalism creates subject positions where the position of “conspiracy theorist” is limited to participate either indirectly as part of meta-coverage or to be barred from classical journalistic coverage entirely. I further analyze how the position “conspiracy theorist” creates itself as a counterpart to the system, offering itself up as an antidote to the dangerous complexity created as a result of misinformation and the perceived one-sided focus from established media and the system itself. I conclude that possibilities for meaningful control do exist and discuss the paradoxical crosscutting agreement to distinguish between a distorted and a real worldview, and how the solution is presented as a practical issue. I also discuss how alternative second-order strategic management approaches can be productive in light of attempts at steering on innovation and potentialization. When it comes to how and who to solve the problem of misinformation, and how the problem is constituted, the thesis concludes that the answers are inherently political in nature.