Resilient Information Ecosystems: Upgrading the information supply chain for democracy

Britain’s information environment is becoming a fault line in our democracy. As trust in institutions declines, our digital lives are accelerating division, amplifying misinformation and making it harder for citizens to find common ground. This paper argues that tackling these challenges requires more than countering false information. It requires rebuilding the information supply chain that underpins democracy.

Rather than focusing solely on misinformation, this paper sets out a new framework for strengthening democratic resilience across four stages of the information supply chain: how trustworthy information is produced, how it is distributed, how citizens evaluate what they see, and how they deliberate and act together. It argues that every link in this chain must be strengthened if citizens are to access reliable information, engage across differences and hold power to account.

This paper sets out a practical programme for government to build a more resilient information ecosystem. It calls for stronger leadership during crises and elections, greater prominence of trusted public-interest information, investment in sovereign digital infrastructure, and reforms that give citizens more choice, transparency and agency online.

As part of Demos’ New Deal series, this paper argues that rebuilding trust between citizens, institutions and the state must begin with strengthening the information environment that underpins democracy itself. By upgrading our information supply chain, government can move beyond reacting to crises towards creating the conditions for greater trust, stronger democratic participation and a more resilient democracy fit for the future.