Navigating the intricacies of digital environments demands effective strategies for fostering cooperation and upholding norms. Banning and moderating the content of influential users on social media platforms is often met with shock and awe, yet clearly has profound implications for online behaviour and digital governance. Drawing inspiration from these actions, we model broadcasting retributive measures. Leveraging analytical modeling and extensive agent-based simulations, we investigate how signaling punitive actions can deter anti-social behaviour and promote cooperation in online and multi-agent systems. Our findings underscore the transformative potential of threat signaling in cultivating a culture of compliance and bolstering social welfare, even in challenging scenarios with high costs or complex networks of interaction. This research offers valuable insights into the mechanisms of promoting pro-social behaviour and ensuring behavioural compliance across diverse digital ecosystems.

Issue Section:
General Conference: Accepted oral presentations
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© 2024 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license
2024
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Issue Section:
General Conference: Accepted oral presentations