The People Must Have Access to Accurate Political Information
https://www.humantruth.info/political_information.html
By Vexen Crabtree 2026
#elections #good_governance #information #misinformation #politics #public_debate #public_sphere #USA #voting
Meaningful elections and political involvement requires that the people have access to information; knowledge enables people to be politically active in a wise and sensible manner1,2. Some consider access to unbiased information to be a fundamental right akin to free speech3 but across the world, poor-quality information and misinformation is damaging the ability of populations to factually debate political and social issues2 especially in non-democratic countries and the USA.
Citizens must have open access to the information that informs the political process, to the reports that government read, to independent evaluations of government plans, to economic and social data, to governmental financial expenditures, to policy statements and to a wide range of other information. Governments must inform and debate with their citizens, to try to convince them of their plans rather than simply assert their value4. Not only that, but governments themselves - in power, and opposition parties - need that same neutral data to create policy5.
Political representatives can only be held to account if the public are properly informed about their actions2, including seeing what policies they have supported (via votes or otherwise) or opposed in government.
- Information Feeds Debate
- Misinformation
- Case Example: The 2016 Brexit Campaign: Under-Education and Misinformation Invalidated the 'Debate'
- Links
1. Information Feeds Debate
#finland #information #politics #public_debate
You cannot have legitimate voting choices without open access to information; education and knowledge is what enables people to be politically active in a wise and sensible manner1,2. The Director General of Finland's national statistics body, Heli Jeskanen-Sundström, considers "the independence of official statistics [to have] the same status as the freedom of speech" (2007)3.
Citizens must have open access to the information that informs the political process, to the reports that government read, to independent evaluations of government plans, to economic and social data, to governmental financial expenditures, to policy statements and to a wide range of other information. Not only the citizens, but governments themselves need quality data, and, it damages democracy if opposition politicians are
It damages government policies if neutral information is not widely available, and it damages democracy if the people (and the opposition) do not have access to it5. Using facts and figures, Governments must inform and debate with their citizens, to try to convince them of their plans rather than merely force-down policies from above without consultation4.
“Efforts to persuade the public to support policies and ideologies have become an increasingly important activity of government in democracies. [...] Ideas now have to be presented, argued, and defended in public discourse.”
"The War of Ideas" by Walid Phares (2008)4
Political representatives can only be held to account if the public are properly informed about their actions2, including seeing what policies they have supported (via votes or otherwise) or opposed in government.
A central theme of the United Nations' Human Development Report (2022) is that poor-quality information is damaging the ability of populations to factually debate political and social issues:
“The free flow of information is fundamental to [governance] processes. Accurate information allows people to develop well-informed policy preferences, hold those in power accountable and participate meaningfully in... debate.”
Human Development Report United Nations (2022)6
2. Misinformation
Misinformation corrodes politics by undermining the shared factual foundation that decision-making depends on. When falsehoods circulate widely, citizens struggle to evaluate policies, hold leaders accountable, or participate meaningfully in public debate. Governments, in turn, face distorted public pressures, weakened legitimacy, and increased polarization as groups form around incompatible versions of reality. In extreme cases, misinformation fuels authoritarian tendencies and destabilizes institutions by eroding trust in elections, expertise, and the rule of law. The result is a political environment where manipulation becomes easier than persuasion, and governance becomes reactive, fragmented, and vulnerable to bad-faith actors. It is utterly essential that modern governments and international institutions conduct comprehensive anti-misinformation campaigns.
Beyond politics, misinformation warps people's beliefs, especially through social networks, by exploiting biases and emotional triggers. The technology allows echo chambers where conspiracy theories and pseudoscience thrive without being challenged. This distorts public understanding of health, science, history, and social issues, often leading to harmful behaviors and the stigmatization of outsider groups.
For more, see:
3. Case Example: The 2016 Brexit Campaign: Under-Education and Misinformation Invalidated the 'Debate'
#brexit #EU #politics #russia #UK #USA
The UK population did not have enough realistic information about the EU to make an informed decision on whether they should vote Remain or Leave. The UK's citizens are the least knowledgeable about the EU out of all its members7 and has suffered from many high-profile long-term campaigns ran by sensationalist newspapers with anti-EU agendas and little regard for balanced reporting8,9. Of those who voted in the Brexit vote, 70% of those with the worst education voted to Leave but amongst those with degree level education or higher, only 32% did10. The reason for this is that Brexit relied on short-sighted one-liner slogans, which appealed to the uneducated. Only now, in 2019, are there signs that we are beginning to tackle the details. At some point soon, it will be the right time for a referendum.
The Leave Campaign Director Dominic Cummings admitted in 2017 Feb that the public voted to exit the EU as a result of lies and misinformation11. The UK's House of Commons has found that the Vote Leave campaign involved "serious breaches" of campaign law12, especially "in their use of social media"13, and several key campaign groups (i.e. UKIP) were funded by Russian-interest groups. Likewise, anti-EU campaigners in the USA donated significant time and effort to the Leave campaign - contributing an equivalent value of millions of dollars - especially with regards to Steve Bannon and Arron Banks14. The illegal activities of Cambridge Analytica influenced an uncountable number of people with targeted misinformation, based on data obtained from a Facebook data breach. Vote Leave intentionally broke electoral law during its campaign when it donated hundreds of thousands of pounds in order to get around campaigning spending limits15 and Leave.EU has also been found in the central London county court of committing four electoral offences during their own campaign15. The online advertising gained through illegal overspending influenced "tens of millions" of people, and statistics show that it directly led to over 800,000 people changing their minds16. These illegal elements skewed the Brexit vote, made it invalid, and damaged UK democracy. The Remain campaign was more honest but it was very sparse, and the mass media chose to only pick up on the disreputable "project fear" element (knee-jerk claims that painted an unbelievably dystopian future if the UK left the EU). In total, the entire debate was poor quality and "a distinctly unpleasant affair"17 and lacked the calm rationality required for a referendum.
For more, see: