ANT-Security Interface and the Current Information Crisis

Abstract

We live in a world driven by fast technologies. The same technologies that make information more accessible have created a dilemma by which the same conduits have also enabled access to mass amounts of counter-factual information. It is the assertion of this thesis project that counter- factual information poses a growing risk to the security and stability in liberal democratic societies and warrants a proportional response. The body of work which follows will explore what I have characterized as an information crisis. The information crisis, so presented, is a multi-faceted issue. It's constituent causes and outcomes concern both scholars of security studies and sociology. To address breadth of scope and immediacy of the crisis, the conceptual framework purposed in this project offers an interface between actor-network theory and security studies (ANT-security interface). Actor-network theory is a material-semiotic approach that preferences engagement with human and technological actants as an assemblage. Or, in other words, a network of relationships. The first chapter will introduce the dimensions of the information crisis, providing relevant examples of how counter-factual information embodies a human, and societal security issue. It will delineate important concepts such as misinformation, and...