Abstract

Disinformation and misleading narratives have been the prominent aspects of polluting public debate during the last US presidential elections and the Covid-19 pandemic. This paper attempts to evaluate the problem of freedom of speech through the lens of Ronald Coase’s paradox about the similarities between the «market for goods» and the «market for ideas». After discussing the suitability of the Coasian metaphor, according to which any form of interventionism on one of these spheres will produce outcomes on the other one, it states that this clearly emerges today insomuch online platforms, such as social networks, are becoming accountable for polluting (in terms of externalities) pieces of content shared by users