One of the gravest present challenges to a democratic world is the increasing polarization of opinions on current political issues that is almost invariably rooted in a disparate view of historical context. Not only do seemingly irreconcilable differences of opinion end up stalemating debate, the refusal to cross the divide paves the way for political radicalisation. To maintain the integrity of democracies and their political institutions, it is vital to open up the discussion so that all reasoned ideas and arguments can be understood as having something valuable to bring to the table.
Misinformation binds attention and replaces it with doubt and confusion, and over time exhausts people's efforts to counter invalid statements. Bystanders need to have access to a source of information on controversial topics which at the same time shows which facts are based on reliable sources and which claims are misinformation. Searching for any fact, both correct and incorrect, needs to be easy and the results should be the same: A well presented representation of the details of what is correct and what is unfounded, ready to be used as a response in an online or offline discussion.
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