Abstract
Democracy is always a potential Lemon Market, as everyone gets an equal vote but does not have equal knowledge on all topics. Social Media has increased the likelihood of this by propagating and legitimizing Fake News that bypasses the previous gatekeepers, newspapers and television, which mitigated this risk. It is therefore critical to create a new reputation system, using the theory that democracy is an information system, as it is the best known control to mitigate a Lemon Market. This research then looks to answer the question: How can criteria for a control be created that mitigates the risk, while maintaining democracy? To answer this, research was conducted by using the Attack Tree (AT) methodology to discover the attack surface of democracy. It was then used to create criteria for the control ensuring it mitigated the risks of social media while maintaining the functionality of democracy. Keywords: democracy, fake news, lemon market, reputation system, attack tree
Recommended Citation
Monroe, Colin; Merritt, Nicole; and Lovaas, Petter, "Reputation: Preventing Social Media from Souring Democracy" (2019). AMCIS 2019 Proceedings. 5.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2019/social_computing/social_computing/5
Reputation: Preventing Social Media from Souring Democracy
Democracy is always a potential Lemon Market, as everyone gets an equal vote but does not have equal knowledge on all topics. Social Media has increased the likelihood of this by propagating and legitimizing Fake News that bypasses the previous gatekeepers, newspapers and television, which mitigated this risk. It is therefore critical to create a new reputation system, using the theory that democracy is an information system, as it is the best known control to mitigate a Lemon Market. This research then looks to answer the question: How can criteria for a control be created that mitigates the risk, while maintaining democracy? To answer this, research was conducted by using the Attack Tree (AT) methodology to discover the attack surface of democracy. It was then used to create criteria for the control ensuring it mitigated the risks of social media while maintaining the functionality of democracy. Keywords: democracy, fake news, lemon market, reputation system, attack tree