Insularity. The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer has, for the first time in over a quarter of a century, coined trust worldwide has retreated to this psychological state that is shaped by fears and crises. 70% of 33,938 individuals across 28 countries expressed hesitancy and unwillingness to trust persons with a different way of life at a time when structural instabilities and ruptures reconfigure authoritative societal, economic and political systems. While these vertical trust systems falter, the advent of digital technology and social networks catalyzes mass horizontal trust with peer groups and the like-minded globally.
Desires for immediate assurances, proximate safety, and familiar communities have become pervasive in the face of these compounding uncertainties. Recent regulatory propositions and actions around the world exemplify such a trust pattern shift. Sovereignty, supply chain security, and operational resilience are top of mind with an increasingly inward-looking trajectory. Discussions on data transfers have moved from data free flow with trust (DFFT) to further localization; the prevalence of zero-trust adoptions beyond essential cyber systems; and procurements are now subject to further scrutiny for trustworthiness of the origins and upstream supply chain providers in favor of self-assurance and risk aversion – especially in technology and other critical sectors.
An adjacent Edelman report that zoomed in on trust and artificial intelligence (AI) in late-2025 further revealed that trust in AI sets the pace of its adoption and innovation. Despite the burgeoning opportunities AI brings and promises, the current excitement is outweighed by uncertainties and fears, which are further exacerbated by AI-powered cyber risks that would in turn erode not just the trust in AI but the overall public trust. Such a cycle underpins the close correlations between AI and trust. Therefore, it is imperative to mitigate AI risks and worries with effective trust brokering while cultivating the overall trust for progressive AI adoption and innovation.
Trust brokering is a practice recognizing a single group of institutions can no longer reach a mass public directly in the age of insularity. Henceforth, they must work through “trust intermediaries” to engage people where they are and connect mutual interests rather than trying to change them. This NetMission Digest grounds the examination from the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer to take a closer look at three trust intermediaries – employers, multistakeholder fora, and digital natives – and their states of play in salvaging sunken public trust against the backdrop of the global AI diffusion in 2026.
Employers as the Most Effective Trust Brokers
Non-government institutions have become the most pivotal group to steer public trust in 2026. Respondents of the Edelman Trust Barometer unveiled that their employers are best positioned to broker trust, followed by businesses (the private sector) and non-government organizations (the third sector). As trust turns inward, employers “promoting a shared identity” in the workplace can actually serve a larger purpose of being trust intermediaries for society. Leveraging the work towards common organizational objectives in the age of AI unites colleagues and fulfills social responsibility at the same time.
Cybersecurity is an increasingly universal organizational objective on which trust brokering can ride for synergy and scale. CNN’s Business Decision Makers’ Mindset global report revealed that 81% of decision-makers saw cybersecurity as a top objective in the 24 months following the survey conducted in 2024. The 2026 Global Cybersecurity Outlook by the World Economic Forum (WEF) also indicated cyber-enabled fraud and AI vulnerabilities have overtaken ransomware as CEO’s top concern across the evolving cyber landscape. More specifically, 94% of organizational leaders recognize AI is the most significant driver of change in cybersecurity in 2026. In light of these insights, WEF Managing Director Jeremy Jurgens underscored cyber-enabled fraud as one of the most disruptive forces in undermining trust, and cyber resilience on both technical and non-technical fronts has become a strategic requirement that underpins public trust in an increasingly AI-driven world.
In addition to how cyber incidents directly correlate to public confidence and organizational reputation, the intricate links between public trust and institutional cyber resilience grow even closer at a time when employers are perceived as the most effective in trust brokering. Employees empowered with a shared accountability in safeguarding organizational cybersecurity not only bolsters institutional security and trust, but could also contribute to a less insular society.
Cyber capacity-building initiatives in an organizational environment, for example, could substantiate employees’ shared identity during cross-departmental dialogues about cyber-enabled fraud risk management. Similarly, trust can also be facilitated when disproportionate fears of AI are mitigated with a greater appreciation towards the “supercharger”. Sector-specific and high-contextual training for employees, such as microcredential programs tailored for higher education institutions and for other organizations that have not conventionally been viewed as “essential services” or being in “critical infrastructure sectors”, would be particularly advantageous in brokering public trust across the board – either as a favorable side effect or a deliberate strategy creating shared value (CSV).
Multistakeholder Fora Leveraged as Trust Brokers
Respondents of the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer view governments as the most obliged to actively bridge divides and build trust in societies, yet their actual performances fall short of expectations the greatest (with a 42/100 expectation-performance point-gap).
Despite the disappointment and insular trust, governments setting the right tone remains critical. Respondents expressed that “requiring politicians to engage in civil discourse with mutual respect” and “using calm and constructive language without blaming and vilification” are effective strategies to facilitate trust. By proactively engaging in civil discourses respectfully without vilifying “the other” and sowing hate, politicians and government officials who demonstrate compassionate stewardship even in controversial issues and openness towards differences cultivate trust not just among individuals and their affiliations, but also in society.
Local-level multistakeholder policy convenings emerge as a more receptive trust intermediary for governance. In the age of AI, the proliferating community of United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) National and Regional Initiatives (NRI) at subregional and demographic-specific levels, such as local hubs for regional IGF and Kids IGF, has shown sizable curiosity – excitement and worries – about how digital technology and policies could impact individuals uniquely given the lived experiences amongst their circles. Governments’ meaningful involvement in these more receptive community-driven fora is an instrumental investment in building trust and governance capital.
Embedding trust in multistakeholder fora and policy discourses nurtures the normative belief that such governance intentions are for their benefit and the common good. With a better public understanding, the execution would be more efficient, and the intended results could be reached more effectively. For instance, in the 2024 Hong Kong Youth Collective Statement on Prompting a SMART Digital Economy – where SMART stands for Sustainable, Multistakeholder-valued, Accountable, Resilience, and Trusted – trust was recognized as “the backbone”. With delegates calling for robust cybersecurity systems and ethical AI that centers around humanity, Hong Kong Youth IGF (HKyIGF) 2024 is a prime example that functioned as a trust broker by carving out how a trusted digital economy could be realized.
Digital Natives Rise as Preeminent Trust Brokers
Amidst the general dwindling of trust towards established institutions, digital natives (including AI natives) in the year 2026 are poised to be powerful trust intermediaries in Society 5.0 – where the fusion of physical and cyber spaces intensifies, and where trust increasingly hinges on digital fluency, effective communication, and social networks online and offline.
Contrary to the mass uncertainties and fears of AI depicted in the 2025 Edelman report, the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) in 2025 indicated over 55% of 3,800 young people surveyed were “very” or “extremely” confident about their digital/AI readiness for Society 5.0, with only 0.8% being “not confident at all”. Such prevalent confidence and optimism are not merely attitudinal – they stem from lived experiences which digital natives continuously apprehend and interpret as new technologies made available to them. The digital competence and intuitive comprehension of online ecosystems that today’s youth develop set them up as dependable interpreters and trust brokers.
As the Internet makes remote interactions proximate, trust travels further horizontally in the algorithmic world. The 2026 Trust Barometer further points to tapping into trusted Internet personalities as an effective way to “open closed doors” for public and institutional trust. Digital natives are well-positioned in ways that their prowess can compel trust and resonate across communities. Their habitual exposure to digital technologies also enables them to discern early “the doors” these latest capabilities could open – a perspicacity instrumental not just in bridging groups as trust intermediaries by opening the good doors, but also in safeguarding a more trusted cyberspace by consciously closing the bad doors.
From issue-specific workshops at the latest UN IGF combating adolescent-targeted sexual deepfakes, to a more encompassing vision under the WSIS+20 Youth Special Track for more inclusive digital development, these processes demonstrated the indispensable youth leadership and commitment in building digital trust and resilience. Yet the very prominence of youth leadership in these processes underscores that their cyber awareness and digital citizenship competencies must keep pace, ensuring young people are adequately equipped to open doors in good conscience. This parallel imperative is vital to fortify the confidence and trust digital natives hold in Society 5.0, as much as the role of trust brokering they are entrusted with in the age of AI.
Our Road Ahead from Insularity to SMART
As we enter a period marked by a prevailing insular trust mindset and the surge of autonomous AI systems, the overall erosion of trust should not be misinterpreted as the waning desire for human connections. Instead, rapport and relational trust continue to be actively pursued, as trust brokers are increasingly being sought after for their ability to translate realities and surface common interests. Employers, multistakeholder fora, and digital natives stand out as proximate and reliable intermediaries capable of treading a path toward progress and cooperation. Restoring trust in the age of AI hinges on human-centered principles that epitomize a SMART society – critical as we gear for the Quantum Leap.
What We Are Reading:
- APrIGF 2026 subtheme centers on Digital Resilience and Building of Trust
- HSBC Global Viewpoint Perspectives on Trust and Leadership in the Age of AI
- United Nations-Interpol Global Public-Private Partnership Framework against Fraud in Restoring Public Trust
NetMission Digest – 2026: Issue #7 (July 21, 2026)
Written by Kenneth Leung (Reviewed by Jenie Fernando)