The internet, search, and social media platforms encourage the free and rapid exchange of ideas and have played a major role in fostering democratic movements around the globe over the past two decades. But these same technologies have also helped undermine democratic ideals, leading to the spread of disinformation and propaganda, increased surveillance, and an erosion of trust in democracy and its institutions. Is the responsibility for policing these technologies better left to the technology companies themselves (whose business models were never designed with a thought about their potential misuse by actors looking to undermine democratic systems), or is there a need for more formal oversight and regulation by independent organizations or government?
In this conversation, the international policy director at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center and international policy fellow at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Marietje Schaake (a former member of the European Parliament for 10 years), and director, Cyber Initiative at The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Kelly Born will discuss the relationship between democracy and the internet and social media in today’s global society, and the different paths to protecting their misuse by bad actors.