Individual Benefit – Collective Harm.  The Logic of the Prisoner’s Dilemma in Digital Discourse

József Zoltán Málik

doi:10.46522/S.2025.02.3

Authors

József Zoltán Málik Budapest Metropolitan University, Institute of Social Sciences and International Studies

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46522/S.2025.02.3

Keywords:

collective harm, digital discourse, public sphere, attention economy, algorithms, prisoner's dilemma

Abstract

The rapid expansion of social media platforms has profoundly transformed the structure of the public sphere and the dynamics of social discourse. The digital space initially carried the promise of democratizing the expression of opinion; however, the algorithmic logic of platforms—operating according to the rules of the attention economy—has a distorting effect on public debate. Emotionally charged, oversimplified, and polarizing content tends to gain greater visibility, thereby encouraging the instrumental application of individual communication strategies. This mechanism can be described by the logic of the game-theoretic Prisoner's Dilemma: decisions that are rational at the individual level lead to negative consequences at the social level. As a result, the quality of discourse deteriorates, the boundaries of a commonly accepted reality become blurred, and the basic conditions for deliberative democracy are undermined. This study aims to interpret this paradoxical situation in the digital public sphere and to explore what types of intervention might help reverse it. Through a theoretical-analytical approach grounded in interdisciplinary scholarship, it identifies four main areas where constructive change may occur: (1) transparent and proportionate institutional regulation, (2) algorithmic mechanisms that foster content diversity and deliberation, (3) the promotion of critical media literacy and digital ethics in education, and (4) the cultivation of community (social) norms that support respectful dialogue. Rather than offering empirical predictions, the study proposes a conceptual model that reflects and anticipates evolving efforts to re-establish digital environments as spaces of shared understanding and democratic engagement.

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