Digital technology has fundamentally undermined previous definitions of a democratic information environment. In the 20th century democracies were defined by freedom of expression, pluralism and the metaphor of a ‘marketplace of ideas’, and authoritarian regimes by censorship and state media control. Today, however, we see authoritarians and ‘hybrid’ regimes multiplying content rather than constricting it: flooding the information space with unprecedented amounts of digitally powered disinformation, and undermining critics with cyber militias and online mobs. Meanwhile inside democracies pluralism is tipping into polarisation so extreme it breaks down the possibility for deliberative debate.
The principles underpinning a democratic information environment need to be reimagined for the digital age. What sort of oversight and control do we need over algorithms and the design of online platforms? How can we reinvent media to overcome polarisation? Can democracies build coalitions to withstand the authoritarian threat?
Join the Maryam Forum’s panel at 3PM on disinformation as experts discuss tangible policy tools and regulations for platforms and governments, how a renewed and robust public interest media can compete with disinformation, and how “The Good Web” initiative can set a vision for a democratic online space with rights to empower citizens online.
Panellists:
- Peter Pomerantsev LSE and Johns Hopkins University (Chair)
- Chloe Colliver, Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD)
- James Deane, BBC Media Action and International Fund for Public Interest Media
- Sophia Gaston, Institute of Global Affairs, LSE
- Delphine Halgand, Democracy Project
Ben Grazda is the Student Leader for this session. He is pursuing an MSc in Conflict Studies in the LSE’s Department of Government.
Full information about the event can be found here: https://www.lse.ac.uk/iga/events/2020-virtual/MAF/Democracy-and-Disinfor...
