The Future of Platform Power: Quarantining Misinformation

Amid the roiling debate over the impact of the internet on
democracy, we reflect on a recent contribution to this topic in
these pages by Francis Fukuyama, who proposes that internet
companies open their platforms to outside content-moderation
services. We support exploring new approaches that promote greater
user control and autonomy on social media platforms but take issue
with his narrow definition of the problem. While the core issues of
agency and power in democratic systems will not be resolved by
better technology, improving design can make a positive impact.
Whole-of-society problems will ultimately require whole-of-society
thinking and action.