Conclusion: Some Resolutions to Dupery and the Power of Online Platforms

In this conclusion to Dupery by Design: The Epistemology of Deceit in a Postdigital Era we reprise the themes of the book. We record that dupery is now being exercised on an industrial scale worldwide by liberal democratic and authoritarian governments to manipulate public opinion using ‘cyber troop’ tactics - and the number is growing. Social media are excellent environments for civic participation and public discourse; they are also phenomenally effective at reaching large numbers of people quickly, micro-targeting with tailored messages, and harvesting personal data. This power and capacity make social media very attractive to, for example, governments, political parties and conspiracy theorists whose aims are, often, to exploit social media to spread disinformation, and undermine public trust in government and institutions. The chapters in this edited collection addressed the many approaches to detecting, understanding, and combating dupery, ranging from the philosophical and pedagogical, the performative and fictional, to media and information literacy. In addition, we discuss what is required to combat the adverse effects on human welfare and health: transparency, social media literacy, procedural accountability, humane technology and human rights.