verontrusting

Verontrusting is a term used in information ethics and media studies to describe a stance or practice of trust that rests on verifiability and source reliability rather than authority, charisma, or consensus. The word combines veracity or verification with trust, and it is used to analyze how people form beliefs about claims in digital environments. The concept emerged in discussions of misinformation and information literacy in the early 2020s and has since been used to describe both individual habits and design principles for platforms.

Core features include an emphasis on evidence-based evaluation, verification, and transparency. Proponents argue that verontrusting encourages active checking of claims, corroboration across independent sources, attention to data quality and methodological soundness, and awareness of source provenance. Trust, in this view, is conditional and evolves with the accumulation of reliable evidence, rather than being granted on the basis of status, affiliation, or popularity.

Applications of verontrusting appear in digital literacy curricula, journalistic practice, science communication, and algorithmic fact-checking. Platforms may promote verontrusting by enabling access to source material, providing clear provenance, and encouraging reproducible data and methods.

Critics note that the term can be vague, risk promoting excessive skepticism, or privilege certain epistemic norms that vary by culture or context. Others point out that not all trusted information can be independently verifiable, and that gatekeeping can impede legitimate discourse.

Related concepts include epistemic trust, source credibility, fact-checking, and information literacy. See also verification, critical thinking, and misinformation mitigation.