Trend · rank 99 of 250

Platform power over public discourse

A few private platforms and their recommendation systems decide what billions of people see, giving firms beyond the reach of most governments influence over national debate and the visibility of competing accounts.

Information & InfluenceInformation & trustinformationpoliticsconsumer

Second pass: Carried forward from the first pass unchanged. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
99of 250
Sensitivity
8.3rank 145
Breadth
1of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
44.3rank 69
Eigenvector
36.0
Betweenness
0.1
Links
16trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
23.3

Attention over three years

How much this trend is read about on Wikipedia and searched for on Google, week by week, set against the typical trend in the list so that what moves every trend at once is taken out. 100 is this trend's own three-year average. The score measures public attention, which is not the same as the strength of the force: a trend can deepen unnoticed, and a news event can lift attention for a fortnight.

Now
111
Over a year
−4%Steady
Over three years
+52%
Peak
18321 Dec 2025
Sources
Bothagreement 0.45
Coverage
7languages · 55 nations

Trailing 4-week average. 100 is this trend’s three-year average.

By language

Wikipedia reading in each language edition where the trend’s pages are read enough to measure (7 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English75%103−1%
German8%102+11%
French7%137+37%
Chinese3%102+3%
Italian3%146+80%
Russian2%113+2%
Spanish2%119+23%

By country

Google search interest over the three years, as a share of each country’s searching. 100 is the nation where interest is highest. The search terms are English, which favours countries that search in English.

Singapore

South Korea

China

Ireland

Netherlands

Philippines

Belgium

United States

Germany

United Kingdom

Austria

Kenya

100

82

80

69

60

52

50

50

41

39

35

35

The 12 highest of 55 nations with a reading.

By region and G20 member

Attention to this trend inside each place, from Google searches made in its countries and Wikipedia reading in the languages mostly read there, averaged where both exist. Each line compares the trend with its own past in that place; the lines do not compare places.

Regions

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
North AmericaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in English102−32%+3%+27%
EuropeGoogle in 3 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian120−1%+30%+21%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 3 countries + Wikipedia in Chinese125−15%+48%+69%
South AsiaGoogle in 1 country90+10%−33%+10%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Spanish153−14%+83%+175%
Russia and EurasiaWikipedia in Russian113+4%+2%+32%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
BrazilGoogle187−22%+164%+663%
CanadaGoogle103−60%+308%+56%
FranceWikipedia in French137+32%+37%−21%
GermanyGoogle + Wikipedia in German110−1%+21%+21%
IndiaGoogle90+10%−33%+10%
ItalyGoogle + Wikipedia in Italian127+7%+33%+50%
JapanGoogle113−40%+76%+42%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian113+4%+2%+32%
United KingdomGoogle116−30%+51%+89%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English102−27%−8%+26%

Relation to each scenario

A trend relates to a scenario when it changes how likely the scenario is, how hard it lands, or is itself sharply changed by it. Each score is the median of three scores given separately by the members of the model panel.

RelationScenarioFamily
4 · HighA disputed transfer of power breaks effective government S05Geopolitical and security
3 · ModerateHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
2 · LowA novel respiratory pathogen exceeds health surge capacity S10Health
1 · Very lowA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health
0 · Not relatedCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA major disaster disables the national economic core S07Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAn AI deployment step causes abrupt labour displacement S08Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedCheap firm clean power becomes available at scale S15 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA validated farming package raises water-efficient output S16 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA public service platform reaches inclusive operation S18 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedAffordable preventive treatments reduce chronic illness S19 ↗Health

Similarity = 0.3 × shared tags (Jaccard) + 0.3 × likeness of scenario profiles (cosine) + 0.3 × likeness of names and descriptions (TF-IDF cosine) + 0.1 if in the same capability domain, cut into seven levels at 0.12, 0.22, 0.33, 0.45, 0.58, 0.72. Shown at Moderate and above.

SimilarityTrendThemeRank
4 · HighDeclining institutional trustInformation & trust7
4 · HighDecline of independent journalismInformation & trust29
4 · HighMisinformation & disinformationInformation & trust30
4 · HighElection integrity & interferenceInformation & trust57
4 · HighConspiracy movements & science denialInformation & trust68
4 · HighForeign information manipulationInformation & trust91
4 · HighCensorship & surveillanceInformation & trust103
4 · HighAI-mediated information accessInformation & trust118
3 · ModeratePublic communication in crisisInformation & trust10
3 · ModerateErosion of rights & civic freedomsState capacity & governance14
3 · ModerateOpen-source intelligence & transparencyInformation & trust79
3 · ModerateSynthetic media & deepfakesInformation & trust87
3 · ModerateMedia provenance & authenticationInformation & trust100
3 · ModerateReligious & identity nationalismInformation & trust122
3 · ModerateDiaspora politics & transnational repressionInformation & trust176
3 · ModerateOnline harms & safetyInformation & trust202