Muting the Liars
A Democratic Response to Disinformation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8408902 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Yi-Hsuan Huang (0000-0003-1119-1896, Swarthmore College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 56 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | British Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-1234 • E-ISSN: 1469-2112 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0007123425101294 |
| OpenAlex | W7147512315 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 35 |
Disinformation poses a serious threat to democracy, yet regulating it risks infringing on freedom of speech. This article defends the democratic legitimacy of regulating disinformation by distinguishing it from two similar forms of speech: ‘false opinion’ and ‘toxic persuasion’. I argue that disinformation, as deliberate falsehoods intended to manipulate citizens’ political judgment, does not merit protection. Regulation, on this account, is normatively legitimate and desirable when it safeguards citizens’ ability to function as meaningful decision makers in the democratic common world. I then propose a dual-track model to identify removable content. Paired with regular review, transparency obligations, and an appeal process, this framework offers principles that help democracies to balance between protecting expressive freedom and resisting disinformation
Appeal · Democracy · Democratic legitimacy · Disinformation · Legitimacy · Politics · Transparency (behavior · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Social Media and Politics
Social Media and the Public Interest
On Liberty, Utilitarianism and Other Essays
De-platforming disinformation
A Democratic Theory of Judgment
A Lot of People Are Saying
Fake News as a Floating Signifier
The Trouble with Being Earnest
Freedom of speech
How mental systems believe
Beyond Gatekeeping
Framing Exclusion in the Public Sphere
Power and Persuasion
Disinformation as a Threat to Deliberative Democracy
The Illusion of Choice in Democratic Politics
Disinformation as Political Communication
When Corrections Fail
The Elusive Backfire Effect
Gaslighting Citizens
The Role of Evidence in Politics
A Collision of Principles? Free Expression, Racial Equality and the Prohibition of Racist Speech
The case for motivated reasoning
Freedom of expression
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |