Losing trust in government

Will distrust in government impact digital literacy and adoption of technology?

Over the past week, I have engaged with some folks who are advocating the removal of WiFi equipment from schools. Activists within teachers’ unions believe there is a workplace safety issue associated with WiFi, despite assurances from Health Canada and other agencies.

Why do educated, intelligent people reject the findings of the agencies that are charged with the responsibility to ensure safety standards?

What causes people to put their trust in a speakers who evangelize with emotionally-charged presentations based on debunked studies and misrepresented quotations?

I have cited Pew Research Center studies a number of times through the years, most often in looking at internet adoption. Pew also tracks “Public Trust in Government“, which appears to have been hovering at historically low levels in the US.

The OECD says only 40% of people trust their government. It suggests 6 ways for governments to earn back the trust of their citizens:

  • Reliability: Governments have an obligation to minimise uncertainty in the economic, social and political environment.
  • Responsiveness: Trust in government can depend on citizen’s experiences when receiving public services – a crucial factor of trust in government.
  • Openness: Open government policies that concentrate on citizen engagement and access to information can increase public trust.
  • Better Regulation: Proper regulation is important for justice, fairness and the rule of law as well in delivering public services.
  • Integrity & Fairness: Integrity is a crucial determinant of trust and is essential if governments want to be recognised as clean, fair and open.
  • Inclusive Policy Making: Understanding how policies are designed can strengthen institutions and promote trust between government and citizens.

In an article in Scientific American (Trust Me, I’m a Scientist), the author seeks to understand “Why so many people choose not to believe what scientists say”:

Why do people say that they trust scientists in general but part company with them on specific issues?

Many individuals blame the poor quality of science education in the U.S. If kids got more science in school, the thinking goes, they would learn to appreciate scientific opinion on vaccines, climate, evolution and other policy issues. But this is a misconception. Those who know more science have only a slightly greater propensity to trust scientists. The science behind many policy issues is highly specialized, and evaluating it requires deep knowledge—deeper than students are going to get in elementary and high school science classes. A more direct approach would be to educate people about why they are prone to accept inaccurate beliefs in the first place.

It is particularly disconcerting to me that school teachers are among the most active voices in the camp that does not trust the scientific community on safety standards for RF emissions.

As I tweeted yesterday, “I’m more concerned about kids being exposed to teachers promoting Junk Science than RF emissions that are under limits”.

In this post, I’m not going to get into the debate of one study versus another. Rather, this is a statement of concern that we are seeing reduced levels of trust in the authorities charged with responsibility to review the safety standards.

We have seen this phenomena create political problems, when municipalities pander to those who want to keep cell towers away from schools and community centres. Although safety standards for radio frequency emissions are set by Canada’s federal agencies, activists target municipalities that are reviewing applications for mobile phone towers. School teachers’ unions are looking for relief from local school boards and provincial workplace safety agencies.

Having virtually no chance of success in influencing federal agencies such as Health Canada, activists are looking for relief from local municipal councils, school boards or even an individual university.

How do we ensure that junk science doesn’t hinder expansion of wireless infrastructure in our communities and our schools. Will digital adoption be impacted by declining trust in government?

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