Societies are currently experiencing a profound loss of trust:

• loss of shared truths
• increasing spread of misinformation and fake news
• growing uncertainty about whom and what to trust

A common response is:

→ more control, more verification, more automation

However, this reaction creates a new problem.

Classical IT systems recognize only one form of truth:

• logically consistent
• formally verifiable
• machine-processable

This form of truth is necessary, but not sufficient to stabilize human communication, meaning, and trust.

When decisions or statements that are not fully computable are treated as false or irrational, the result is:

• epistemic pressure
• distrust toward institutions
• emotional rejection of “official” truths

This dynamic fosters fake news rather than preventing it.

Complex information distinguishes between two levels of truth:

• real truth verifiable, measurable, logically consistent
• imaginary truth meaning, context, subjective certainty, lived experience

These two levels are not equivalent, but they are both necessary.

Fake news emerges where these levels are blurred or deliberately concealed.

Fake news are not primarily false facts. They are emotionally charged statements in which:

• the real component is suppressed, distorted, or absent
• subjective meaning is presented as objective fact

The core problem is opacity, not emotion.

With complex information, every statement becomes structurally readable:

• real component present / absent / incomplete
• imaginary component dominant / secondary / explicit

This means:

• emotions are allowed
• intuition and gut decisions remain legitimate
• but they can no longer masquerade as facts

Truth is not weakened. It becomes more precise.

For institutions

• clearer separation of facts, interpretation, and meaning
• increased credibility
• reduced polarization

For citizens

• orientation without paternalism
• security without forced rationalization
• lower susceptibility to misinformation

Systems that rely exclusively on dual information risk:

• loss of trust
• ethical conflicts
• societal backlash

Complex information enables:

• human-compatible automation
• robust decision architectures
• long-term system stability

Short term

• extend information models with an explicit imaginary component
• label decisions that are not fully computable

Mid term

• develop system architectures that formally allow uncertainty
• keep human decision authority visible

Long term

• establish standards for human-compatible information technology

Fake news do not exist because humans are emotional. They exist because systems provide no formal space for emotion and meaning.

Complex information protects truth by keeping humans inside it.

These stickers are a visible sign of support for broadening the concept of information and can be affixed to IT equipment.