• About
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Central/Eastern Europe
  • Eurasia
  • Latin America/Caribbean
  • Middle East/North Africa
Democracy Digest
Skip to content
  • About
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Central/Eastern Europe
  • Eurasia
  • Latin America/Caribbean
  • Middle East/North Africa

Protecting free expression, diversity & civic engagement in the global digital ecosystem

DemDigest    November 16, 2018 November 16, 2018   

There is little doubt that some recently revealed uses of digital applications such as social media and content platforms are creating a perception of crisis for the world’s democracies, notes a new must-read analysis.

These developments are having detrimental impacts on citizens’ ability to exercise freedom of expression, on diversity online and on civic engagement, according to  Governance Innovation for a Connected World: Protecting Free Expression, Diversity and Civic Engagement in the Global Digital Ecosystem, a report from the Global Digital Policy Incubator (GDPi) at Stanford’s Center for Democracy Development and the Rule of Law, and Canada’s Centre for International Governance Innovation. Examples include:

→ threats to freedom of expression posed, on the one hand, by trolls and bots discouraging speech by attack or simply by swamping the conversation, and, on the other, by increasing censorship or distortion by governments and by the platforms themselves in response to government mandate;

→ threats to democracy posed by proven and alleged Russian interventions in democratic elections, accusations of fake news1 and the resulting threat to a shared understanding of objective reality; → declining trust in public institutions and traditional media;

→ increasing isolation of social media users in filter bubbles or echo chambers imposed by the platforms’ design, which makes civic engagement across ideological lines difficult, if not impossible; and

→ threats to diversity caused by the market dominance of the major platforms, with resulting impacts on the discoverability and economic sustainability of digital cultural expression, including local and linguistically diverse content.

“A great deal of digital content, and the majority of the technology companies that publish or host it, are increasingly crossing national borders,” it adds. “Yet, a growing number of states, led by China, are advancing the concept of cyber sovereignty — sweeping control over the digital space within their national borders.”

“By blocking access to international digital platforms and dominating domestic digital platforms, authoritarian regimes have been able to integrate their powers of intelligence gathering, surveillance and censorship into the digital realm,” says the report, edited by GDPi executive director Eileen Donahoe, who serves on the National Endowment for Democracy board of directors; and Fen Osler Hampson, a distinguished fellow and director of CIGI’s Global Security & Politics Program.

In ‘Protecting Free Expression, Access to Diverse Information and Democratic Engagement Online’, Suzanne Nossel and Viktorya Vilk of PEN America delve further into the topic of freedom of expression, the report adds:

The very nature of the internet — which enables communications to move farther, faster and at greater volumes — has “profound implications for free expression and open discourse,” they write. It has opened the door to new forms of state surveillance and censorship, while also giving unprecedented power and influence over how people communicate to a handful of private tech companies. Nossel and Vilk also caution that any stakeholders attempting to address harmful online behaviour through policy need to tread carefully, because interventions may have unintended consequences.

“Efforts to address one impairment to free expression, such as the spread of online trolling, can open the door to other forms of infringement, including the policing of speech based on ideology and viewpoint.”

RTWT

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Email this to someone
email
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
Share on Facebook
Facebook
Share on Tumblr
Tumblr
Share on LinkedIn
Linkedin
Print this page
Print

Tags

Afrobarometer Alliance for Securing Democracy Anne Applebaum Anti-corruption Carl Gershman China China Digital Times civil society coronavirus Corruption Countering violent extremism (CVE) Cuba democracy assistance democracy promotion democratization disinformation Egypt Elliott Abrams Francis Fukuyama Freedom House Hybrid warfare Illiberal democracy information warfare International Republican Institute (IRI) Iran Iraq Journal of Democracy kleptocracy Larry Diamond Michele Dunne National Democratic Institute (NDI) National Endowment for Democracy National Endowment for Democracy (NED). North Korea populism Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) promoting democracy Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program Russia sharp power Soft power Solidarity Center Tunisia Ukraine Venezuela
Analysis, digital democracy, disinformation, National Endowment for Democracy    Diversity and Civic Engagement in the Global Digital Ecosystem, Eileen Donahoe, Global Digital Policy Incubator (GDPi), Governance Innovation for a Connected World: Protecting Free Expression, National Endowment for Democracy, The Perils to Democracy Posed by Big Tech

Post navigation

Autocratic populists leave democracy ‘unfixable’?
Towards a Hemisphere of Freedom: Connecting Democratic Leaders in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela

Subscribe

Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from Democracy Digest. Subscribe to get our daily update.

Search the Site

Archives

Recommended Reads

Review our comprehensive list of links to essential media resources.
  • Breaking News (13)
  • Newspapers (23)
  • Democracy Blogs (13)
  • Journals/Magazines (57)
  • Democracy Assistance Organizations (25)

Testimonials

Democracy Digest is invaluable.

Read more Democracy Digest testimonials

Michael Danby
Former Labour MP, foreign affairs expert, Australia

Democracy Digest is an indispensable resource, providing valuable news and analysis on the challenges facing democrats and civil society, from authoritarian disinformation and kleptocracy to strategies for democratic renewal.

Read more Democracy Digest testimonials

Anne Applebaum

Democracy Digest is an essential source for analysis of modern dictatorship, identifying democracy’s adversaries, while explaining their techniques and the threats they pose.  It is essential reading for anyone who cares about the future of freedom.

Read more Democracy Digest testimonials

Arch Puddington,
Distinguished Scholar for Democracy Studies, Freedom House

An invaluable site for well-chosen, essential readings on democracy.

Read more Democracy Digest testimonials

Thomas Carothers
Senior Vice President for Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a leading authority on global democracy

Democracy Digest provides important thought leadership and editorial oversight, which has a particular urgency in the current crisis – Irwin Cotler, Chair of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada.

Irwin Cotler

“Democracy Digest is the single best source of news and analysis on the evolving challenges to democratic governance and ideas for democratic renewal. For consistently engaging insights, it is indispensable.”

Director of the Program on Democratic Resilience and Renewal, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Israel.

“There is no other source for a ‘big picture’ narrative on democratic trends alongside perceptive accounts of initiatives and resources to counter resurgent autocratic forces.” – João Espada, director and founder of the Institute for Political Studies at the Catholic University of Portugal.

 

“Democracy Digest is the most focused and indispensable regular compendium of news and analysis about what is happening to democracy around the world.  Both scholars and practitioners of democracy depend on its invaluable daily flow.”

Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution; Senior Fellow, Center on Democracy, Development & the Rule of Law, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

“Democracy Digest provides consistently insightful perspectives on the challenges and opportunities facing democracy support efforts worldwide. I can honestly say that I read it every day. You should too.” – Ken Wollack, Board Chairman, National Endowment for Democracy; former President of the National Democratic Institute.

Credit: NDI

COPYRIGHT © 2018 · DEMOCRACY DIGEST
Privacy Policy
Ribosome by GalussoThemes.com
Powered by WordPress