The internet has
enabled a multitude of voices to reach a multitude of readers, lessening the
influence of the powerful publishing intermediaries that used to dominate the
public sphere. As the concern over "fake news" during the 2016
election showed, however, there can be costs to this disintermediation. And new
kinds of intermediaries now control information flows in different ways.
Instead of editors, we have algorithms. Instead of sources, we have leaks. This
panel addresses how private and public actors influence information flows:
through the strategic or political use of leaks, through distribution of fake
news, through outright "information warfare," and through algorithmic
content moderation.
Business
meeting at program conclusion.