Governance of Disinformation in Digital Public Spheres

Joint Research Project of the Center for Information Technology, Society, and Law (ITSL) and the fög – Research Institute for the Public Sphere and Society at the University of Zurich.

Disinformation has gained importance in the context of digitalization. New communication channels, first and foremost social media and messenger services such as Whatsapp, Telegram or Signal, enable the exchange and dissemination of information to a large audience, including intentionally and unintentionally spreading false news. In Switzerland, too, there is currently heightened concern about problematic effects of disinformation.

Looking at the governance of disinformation, there is currently a patchwork of approaches, rules and instances. So far, the subject has been approached from either a communication and media studies or a legal perspective, but the two perspectives have never been linked. The goal of our research project is now to show where concrete gaps in regulation and enforcement exist. These findings form the basis for the formulation of governance options with regard to disinformation, which take into account state, organizational and individual measures and may act as a basis for political and legal measures.