The Information Shake-Up
Social platforms are now where billions get their news. AI-generated content looks real enough to fool anyone. And trust in traditional media? It’s falling faster than ever.
At VivaTech 2025, five experts took to the Blue Stage to unpack what’s happening and what can be done about it. Steve Rathje, Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon, explored how social media drives information sharing and polarization. Katie Sanders, editor-in-chief of PolitiFact, discussed the importance of non-biased fact checkers. Mario Vasilescu, CEO & Co-Founder of Readocracy, highlighted the value of information in our current knowledge economy. Sunny Xun Liu, Director of Research at Stanford Social Media Lab, addressed digital and AI literacy and the impact of social media and AI from a psychological perspective. Ana Rold, CEO & Founder of of Diplomatic Courier, moderated the session.
A Crisis of Trust
Global trust in the media is plunging. Only three countries reported above 60% trust in the media most of the time. In the US, trust in national media outlets is 56%, down 11% from March.
What is causing this? The panel discussed several factors contributing to this decline, one of the main ones: Social Media.
In the past, the infrastructure of what we trust belonged to trusted media and trusted education institutions. We abdicated that to social media. And now trust is defined by somebody else,” Vasilescu said. “We can take that back.
Our new reliance on influencers delivering the news and keeping us informed has many flaws. In his research, Rathje found that the biggest predictor of going viral is outgroup animosity, content that targets or attacks perceived outsiders. This breeds incentives for false information over nuanced takes.
The Changing Landscape
Recently, efforts to stop the spread of misinformation on social media have weakened. This year, Meta rolled back their third-party fact-checking system for posts to community notes system, like what X (formerly twitter) uses.
Studies show that this does not reduce engagement with misinformation, they are “too slow to effectively reduce engagement with misinformation in the early (and most viral) stage of diffusion.”
However, Sanders points out that nearly one-third of community notes include links to fact-checking organizations, noting that even after the resolution of their partnerships with Meta, third-party fact checkers are still doing heavy lifting, just no longer getting recognition.
What Can Individuals Do?
Xun Liu emphasized the importance of tech literacy in the current environment.
It begins with digital literacy: knowing how to verify what you see online through skills like reverse image searches, ladder reading, and smart keyword searches. These basics are a lifeline against misinformation.
Next comes algorithm literacy:
We have to understand fundamentally, what is an algorithm? How did we get this piece of information?
Beyond digital skills lies AI literacy, an area where most organizations lag. Despite the EU Artificial Intelligence Act stating that companies creating or using AI must ensure users are well-educated about AI, AI literacy is falling behind it’s development. IBM’s executive survey showed that nearly half of respondents believe their staff lack the necessary AI skills.
Xun Liu breaks down AI literacy into three parts:
- Understand how technology works, building on digital and algorithm foundations.
- Think critically about when and how to use AI.
- Be an authentic user: use tech to learn, not replace your own thinking.
Still, the panelists stressed that literacy can’t fall only on individuals. In Xun Liu’s view, education is not solely the responsibility of the individual but on the shoulders of the department of education, the government, to provide resources and training.
Who Should Fix the System?
The panelists diverged on who holds the power, and obligation, to repair the current information ecosystem.
Rathje believes that to have real change, we must fundamentally change the incentives baked into social media. Controversial and false content are rewarded with likes, views, and comments,
If there is some way to fix the incentive structure so people are motivated more by accuracy and less motivated by profit, that would be good.
He believes that science-based regulations are needed to change our current system. The EU Digital Service Act is a starting point, but enforcement remains difficult.
Mario Vasilescu believes that social media platforms need to take responsibility. Instead of blocking misinformation before it’s on the platform or suppressing it in their algorithms, they added fact check notes, then that turned into community notes. “What they’ve tried to do is move the responsibility further and further away from the core.”
Sanders takes a bit of a different stance; she thinks a healthy tech ecosystem needs to empower journalists and fact-checkers.
I think we need to collaborate with people who have a lot of experience recognizing what a checkable, problematic claim is and figuring out how to deliver an authoritative source for it quickly.
The Road Ahead
The session closed on a note of cautious optimism. Misinformation may be spreading faster than truth, but awareness is catching up. From AI literacy to policy reform, the tools to rebuild trust exist. The panelists agreed on one thing: information still has power. What matters now is who wields it, and whether we can turn awareness into action.
Continue the Conversation
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