The Atlantic

Key takeaways from The Internet Doesn’t Have to Be Awful

Our democratic habits have been killed off by an internet kleptocracy that profits from disinformation, polarization, and rage. Here’s how to fix that. Open at source

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Perhaps the most apt historical model for algorithmic regulation is not trust-busting, but environmental protection. To improve the ecology around a river, it isn’t enough to simply regulate companies’ pollution. Nor will it help to just break up the polluting companies.

Our democratic habits have been killed off by an internet kleptocracy that profits from disinformation, polarization, and rage.

Matias observed that when users on Reddit worked together to promote news from reliable sources, the Reddit algorithm itself began to prioritize higher-quality content. That observation could point us in a better direction for internet governance.

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Key takeaways from The Internet Doesn’t Have to Be Awful

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