How to Improve the Collaborative Governance of Public Opinion Risk in Emergencies？The View of Tripartite Evolutionary Game Analysis

In an era when the boundaries between local risks and global risks are not clear, the occurrence of major public emergencies tends to lead to increased tension and risks of all types. Negative public opinions caused by rumors, fear and hostility during public emergencies can often exacerbate conflicts and confrontations and hinder communication and cooperation, thus creating new challenges for the management of emergencies. Taking the creation of a public opinion risk-control system as its entry point, this article builds a multi-subject, tripartite public opinion risk-control system to handle public opinion risks in situations of public emergencies. The tripartite involved in this control system includes the decision makers, the policy enforcers and the general public. Based on this, a tripartite evolutionary game model is created to systematically analyze the strategy-making process undertaken by the tripartite for the purpose of achieving collaborative control. Through quantitative calculations and analysis, this study finds that when the decision makers have undertaken successful strategies and the policy enforcers have taken sensible actions, the general public are unlikely to be affected by rumors, as they will choose to not believe these or to refute these. Under such circumstances, the control of public opinion risks can yield optimal results. To achieve such ideal strategy-making results, joint effort by the decision makers and the policy enforcers is deemed indispensable. Last, based on Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) cases and using simulation modeling, this work also explores the coordination mechanisms between the risk-control bodies of different countries and regions around the globe. Through the analysis, the article aims to offer strategies and suggestions for improving public opinion risk-control systems during public emergencies and raising the overall levels of social governance