Trust. Governance. What was the third one… Legitimacy. It’s not a prerequisite for trust or governance, but rather the condition that decides their limits. Trust. Governance. What was the third one… Legitimacy. It’s not a prerequisite for trust or governance, but rather the condition that decides their limits. Why Digital Systems Can Function Without It - Until They Can’t Why Digital Systems Can Function Without It - Until They Can’t Digital trust is often discussed as if it were a moral achievement. If users stay, if adoption grows, if systems function at scale, then trust must exist - and if trust exists, legitimacy is assumed to follow. This assumption is very comfortable. It allows platforms, institutions, and infrastructures to treat trust as an output of performance rather than as a consequence of authority that has been earned. if trust exists, legitimacy is assumed to follow if trust exists, legitimacy is assumed to follow But comfort is not accuracy. Trust and legitimacy are not the same thing. They do not arise from the same conditions, they do not perform the same function, and - crucially - they do not fail in the same way. Digital systems have become remarkably good at generating trust without legitimacy. They have become far less capable of surviving what follows. Trust and legitimacy are not the same thing Trust and legitimacy are not the same thing This distinction matters now because digital platforms no longer merely mediate interaction. They allocate visibility, enforce rules, resolve disputes, exclude participants, and reshape incentives. They govern. And governance without legitimacy is not neutral - it is fragile. The argument itself tends to divide people who build systems from those who live under them. divide people who build systems from those who live under them divide people who build systems from those who live under them Trust Without Legitimacy Is Not a Contradiction Trust Without Legitimacy Is Not a Contradiction Trust, in its most basic sense, is instrumental. It is a mechanism humans use to reduce complexity in situations where full knowledge is impossible. According to Niklas Luhmann, trust allows action in the absence of certainty. It does not require moral approval. It does not require fairness. It requires only a sufficiently stable expectation that the system will behave as anticipated. But… will it behave? where full knowledge is impossible where full knowledge is impossible This is why trust can exist in deeply asymmetric, unequal relationships. Users trust platforms they do not understand. Citizens trust institutions they do not control. Workers trust systems that can penalize them, in the end. Examples would trigger endless disputes, so - at least for now - let’s stop here. The bottom line is that trust arises not because power is justified, but because outcomes are predictable enough to navigate through conveniently. And feel somehow secure in that sailing (we’ll touch on security versus convenience a bit more in the future). Users trust platforms they do not understand Users trust platforms they do not understand Digital systems excel at this. Interfaces are consistent. Processes are automated. Friction is minimized. Over time, habit replaces evaluation. Trust becomes procedural - not reflective, not consensual, but functional. This is where we should pay some attention. habit replaces evaluation habit replaces evaluation There is nothing inherently wrong with this. Trust has always operated this way. What is often misunderstood is what trust does not provide, mainly trust does not grant authority. It does not confer moral standing, also. And it does not imply consent. Remember all those clickwrap agreements you submit everyday without understanding actually what you’re agreeing to? not Legitimacy, by contrast, is normative. It concerns whether power ought to be exercised, not whether it can be navigated. It asks whether rules are justified, whether decision-makers are accountable, and whether those subject to authority have reason to recognise it as rightful. ought can whether decision-makers are accountable whether decision-makers are accountable A system can be trusted and illegitimate at the same time. History offers countless examples, mainly in politics, but not limited to. Digital platforms are simply the most recent and the most efficient these days. When Usage Is Mistaken for Consent When Usage Is Mistaken for Consent One of the most persistent errors in digital governance is the belief that continued participation implies agreement. If users stay, the logic goes, they must accept the rules. If they accept the rules, the system is legitimate. Ditto. This reasoning collapses the moment power asymmetry is taken seriously. Social contract theory has long distinguished between compliance and consent. Hobbes understood obedience as a condition of order, not legitimacy. A look back reveals that Locke insisted that authority remains conditional - tolerable only so long as it serves those governed. Rousseau went further, arguing that legitimacy requires participation in the formation of the rules themselves. legitimacy requires participation in the formation of the rules themselves legitimacy requires participation in the formation of the rules themselves Digital platforms quietly bypass these distinctions - who reads philosophers these days? Participation is measured, not deliberated. Consent is embedded in terms of service. Exit is theoretically available but practically constrained by lock-in, network effects, professional dependency, or social cost. The last one is bigger the longer the service is used. What seems to be Kensington High Street at first sight may quickly become Kensington Avenue. the longer the service is used the longer the service is used The result is a form of coerced continuity: users remain not because they agree, but because alternatives are absent, impractical, or invisible. Trust persists because daily interaction demands it. Legitimacy remains unexamined because questioning it offers no clear remedy. This is why metrics of engagement, retention, or satisfaction cannot substitute for legitimacy. They measure adaptation to power, not acceptance of it. They reveal how well users cope with governance, not whether governance is justified. Mistaking usage for consent is not a neutral analytical error. It allows systems to expand authority without ever confronting its moral basis. It allows systems to expand authority without ever confronting its moral basis It allows systems to expand authority without ever confronting its moral basis Trust as a Substitute for Legitimacy Trust as a Substitute for Legitimacy Digital systems often compensate for legitimacy deficits through performance. As long as platforms are fast, convenient, and effective, trust fills the gap. Users tolerate opaque rules because outcomes remain favourable. Institutions avoid justification because efficiency silences dissent. This strategy works. Until it doesn’t. Trust can mask illegitimacy, but it cannot erase it. Instead, it accumulates what might be called legitimacy debt. Each unilateral rule change, unexplained decision, or unchallengeable enforcement action draws against a reserve that trust temporarily supplies. The problem is not gradual erosion. Trust rarely collapses slowly. It breaks when expectations collide with power. Moments of crisis - moderation disputes, data misuse, sudden policy shifts, unexplained exclusions - expose the underlying structure. At that point, trust no longer reduces complexity. It amplifies betrayal. Trust rarely collapses slowly Trust rarely collapses slowly Legitimacy fails differently. It does not depend on flawless outcomes. It depends on the justification. Systems with legitimacy can survive error because they can explain themselves, correct themselves, and be challenged without unraveling. Systems without legitimacy have only performance to defend them; or convenience offered to its users (quite often misused, isn’t?). When performance or convenience falter, there is nothing beneath it. This also why many platform are paranoid about its performance and convenience (often called excellent user experience). excellent user experience This is why digital trust crises often appear sudden and disproportionate. But, they are not sudden at all, they are deferred. Why Governance, Not Technology, Determines the Outcome (Again) Why Governance, Not Technology, Determines the Outcome (Again) At this point, it is tempting to retreat into familiar solutions: transparency dashboards, better UX, clearer communication, smarter systems. These are certainly useful, very useful and needed, but none of them address legitimacy. The problem is not that we lack trust, as Onora O’Neill has argued, but that we conflate trustworthiness with reliability. Reliable systems can still be unaccountable. Transparent processes can still be unjustified same way as automation can obscure responsibility rather than clarify it. we conflate trustworthiness with reliability we conflate trustworthiness with reliability Legitimacy requires governance structures that constrain power, not merely optimise it. It requires identifiable authority, predictable rules, and mechanisms for contestation. It requires the possibility of saying “no” - and being heard. And address that “no” when it’s being heard. This is highly uncomfortable in digital contexts because it challenges the fiction of neutrality. Platforms often present themselves as technical systems rather than governing institutions (they only allow, they only enable, they only offer the choice or possibility). But governance does not disappear when it is denied. It becomes unaccountable. It becomes unaccountable It becomes unaccountable The critical point is this: trust can motivate cooperation, but only legitimacy can justify obligation. When interests align, trust is enough. When they diverge, only legitimacy holds. The Question Platforms Avoid Quite Often The Question Platforms Avoid Quite Often Digital systems do not face a crisis of trust. They face a crisis of legitimacy that trust has temporarily postponed. crisis of legitimacy crisis of legitimacy The real question is not whether users trust platforms today. It is whether platforms are prepared to justify their authority tomorrow - when trust is no longer sufficient, when conflict emerges, when performance or convenience no longer compensates for power. Trust buys time. Legitimacy buys durability. As digital infrastructures continue to govern more aspects of economic, social, and civic life, the distinction will become harder to ignore. Systems that confuse trust for consent will discover that cooperation can vanish overnight. Systems that ground authority in legitimacy will survive disagreement, error, and change. Digital trust does not fail because people stop believing. It fails when systems refuse to justify why they should be believed in at all. It fails when systems refuse to justify why they should be believed in at all It fails when systems refuse to justify why they should be believed in at all Further Reading & Conceptual References Further Reading & Conceptual References Hobbes, T. – Leviathan (Authority and order under asymmetry)
Locke, J. – Two Treatises of Government (Conditional legitimacy)
Luhmann, N. – Trust and Power (Trust as complexity reduction)
O’Neill, O. – A Question of Trust (Trustworthiness vs reliability)
Weber, M. – Economy and Society (Legitimate authority and recognition)
Beetham, D. – The Legitimation of Power (Rules, justification, and consent)
Scharpf, F. W. – Governing in Europe (Input, throughput, and output legitimacy)
Whitworth, B. – Legitimate by Design (Legitimacy in digital systems)
Gillespie, T. – Custodians of the Internet(Platform governance in practice) Hobbes, T. – Leviathan (Authority and order under asymmetry) Leviathan Locke, J. – Two Treatises of Government (Conditional legitimacy) Two Treatises of Government Luhmann, N. – Trust and Power (Trust as complexity reduction) Trust and Power O’Neill, O. – A Question of Trust (Trustworthiness vs reliability) A Question of Trust Weber, M. – Economy and Society (Legitimate authority and recognition) Economy and Society Beetham, D. – The Legitimation of Power (Rules, justification, and consent) The Legitimation of Power Scharpf, F. W. – Governing in Europe (Input, throughput, and output legitimacy) Governing in Europe Whitworth, B. – Legitimate by Design (Legitimacy in digital systems) Legitimate by Design Gillespie, T. – Custodians of the Internet(Platform governance in practice) Custodians of the Internet

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Does Trust Require Legitimacy?

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