Deliberative democracy and the problem of misinformation

In recent years concerns over the prevalence of online misinformation and its possible threats to democratic politics have become widespread. Popular and academic discussions of fake news as resulting from partisan biases and motivated reasoning have been particularly prominent in fuelling pessimism over the competence of democratic citizens and democratic debate. By surveying recent empirical research, my aim in this paper is to offer a more optimistic picture in respect to the challenges online misinformation presents for deliberative democracy. I start by analysing the popular ‘partisan account’ which claims fake and hyperpartisan news is driven by individual partisan biases. I argue that this view implicates democratic deliberation in the spread of false news stories, suggests undemocratic solutions of elite gatekeeping and censorship, and reinforces anti-democratic discourses over citizen incompetence. Recent empirical evidence, however, is found not to clearly support the partisan account and to suggest a lack of reflection on the part of citizens may be more important than bias. While this alternative ‘inattentive account’ presents its own threats to deliberative democracy, it also points to the possibility of more democratic solutions which target citizens’ latent deliberative capacities so they can themselves determine the accuracy of information. The paper then evaluates three types of democratic solutions as alternatives to elite gatekeeping.