Threats to Democracy: Climate Misinformation and Gendered Disinformation

The fourth impulse paper in the series "Digital Platforms: Alternative Models and Designs" by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society has been published. It poses the question of the danger of disinformation in climate and gender issues and is based on the results of an expert workshop on the same topic.

The three HBI researchers  Matthias C. Kettemann, Katharina Mosene and Vincent Hofmann contributed to it. The paper (in English) can be read online here or downloaded as a PDF.

You can download the paper here (PDF)

About the Impulse Series and this Publication

The Bertelsmann Stiftung's Upgrade Democracy Team, together with the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, is organising a five-part impulse series from April to September 2023 on the topic "Digital Platforms: Alternative Models and Designs". The focus of the series is an intensive examination of current challenges and problems on existing social platforms and the presentation and discussion of alternatives. The topics of participation and robust governance with regard to the democratic design of the dominant social platforms are just as much in focus as questions about decision-making processes oriented towards the common good. The individual impulses intertwine thematically and aim to develop ideas, action and policy recommendations for a sustainable platform and content governance in digital spaces.

All impulses take up ideas from expert workshops, in which provocative hypotheses and central questions are discussed in small, intimate groups and under Chatham House rules. Following each event, an impulse paper is published that summarises the most important aspects of the discussion. The series was conceptualised by Cathleen Berger, Charlotte Freihse, Matthias C. Kettemann, Katharina Mosene and Vincent Hofmann.

Hamburg, 4 August 2023