Opinion on democracy in the digital age

• Authors: BILLER-ANDORNO Nikola; DO CÉU PATRAO NEVES Maria; LAUKYTE Migle; ŁUKÓW Paweł; MALLIA Pierre; MOLNÁR-GÁBOR Fruzsina; MURPHY Thérese; NYS Herman; PALAZZANI Laura; PRAINSACK Barbara; SAHLIN Nils-Eric; SHARON Tamar; VAN DEN HOVEN Jeroen; VESELSKÁ Renata; VIDALIS Takis
• Year of publication: 2023
• MU Faculty or unit: Faculty of Science
• Web: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2777/078780
• Description: Recent years have seen profound challenges to democracy, including grave populist and autocratic shifts. In the Opinion, the EGE examines how certain configurations of digital technologies can contribute to a weakening of democratic institutions, even if they may not be its sole cause. Among these are the spread of harmful information, an unduly narrow understanding of privacy, algorithmic surveillance, manipulation and discrimination, foreign interference, and the expansion of Big Tech into public sectors. The EGE warns that democracy can quickly become an empty shell if it is not underpinned by fundamental rights and the values it seeks to protect and promote.