Public involvement in risk governance in the internet era: impact of new rules of building trust and credibility

The article draws attention to the multidirectional impact of the widespread Internet communication on public involvement in risk governance processes. The prevalence of Internet communication changes the rules of building credibility and trust, and a position of expert knowledge. As online peer-to-peer information are not verified by any single trustworthy institution, the expert community often perceives it as a source of disturbance in risk governance. We refuse to frame online communication simply in terms of a threat to responsible dealing with risks and, instead, demonstrate how it creates new conditions for public involvement in risk governance, which may strengthen or hamper responsible risk governance, potentially compensating for the shortcomings of the system based solely on state agencies’ activities. Basing on the qualitative analysis of three critical cases, we show how the involvement of Internet-enabled groups impacts the risk governance of specific issues in Poland. Specifically, the Internet-enabled participation amplifies evidence-based concerns (the case of city air pollution), signals new “unknown unknowns” (the case of fracking), or weakens procedures based on the body of scientific knowledge (the case of vaccination controversy). To decide when and how to harness the potential of internet-enabled public involvement and when to focus on limiting the harms it may engender, we propose a framework that takes into account the level of uncertainty, the extent to which risk mitigation policy in place reflects the scientific consensus (if there is one), and the accepted rules of credibility and trust by Internet-enabled groups to expert knowledge. We claim that risk governance processes should routinely involve analyses and actions aimed at governing risks that ignore the impact of widespread Internet use may prove counter-effective.