November 2019

Democracy and the tech revolution

related content:

• Power 3.0 Podcast Episode “China’s Technology-Enhanced Authoritarianism: A Conversation with Samantha Hoffman”
• Power 3.0 Post entitled “An Intelligent Human Rights Agenda for Artificial Intelligence” by Eileen Donahoe and Megan MacDuffee Metzger
• Power 3.0 Podcast Episode “Social Media and Risks to Digital Freedom: A Conversation with Ron Deibert”
• Big Question on “How Will ‘Deepfakes’ and Emerging Technology Transform Disinformation?“

Journal of Democracy: SOUTHEAST ASIA’S TROUBLING ELECTIONS

The October 2019 issue of the Journal of Democracy features clusters of articles on “Southeast Asia’s Troubling Elections,” “Modi Consolidates Power,” and “Europe Grapples with Populism,” as well as individual studies on Egypt, South Sudan, and South Africa.

Power 3.0 Podcast: DISINFORMATION IN THE GLOBAL ARENA

In “Disinformation in the Global Arena,” Power 3.0 podcast featured guest Peter Pomerantsev discusses how changes in the modern information environment have been exploited by malign actors and facilitated the spread of disinformation around the world.

Power 3.0 Podcast: Dictators in MONEYLAND NNNNNNNNN

In “Dictators in Moneyland,” featured guest Oliver Bullough discusses how transnational kleptocracy—the process by which illicit money is stolen in one location, laundered through anonymous off-shore vehicles, and spent in jurisdictions where it is safe from interference—corrodes democratic and rules-based institutions.

Power 3.0: EXPLORING BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA’S DISINFORMATION HUB

Darko Brkan‘s Power 3.0 blog post on “Exploring Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Disinformation Hub” discusses the inner mechanics of disinformation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the wider Balkan region, and identifies key problem areas and avenues for more research into this increasingly common phenomenon.

Big Question: WHAT IS THE BIGGEST IMPEDIMENT TO DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA? NNNNN

Drawing on a July 2019 Journal of Democracy cluster of articles on “Aspirations and Realities in Africa,” the International Forum for Democratic Studies asked five leading experts – including Nana Ama Agyemang Asante, Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, Ayo Obe, Jon Temin, and Emeka Umejei – about their opinion on the single biggest challenge to good governance in sub-Saharan Africa.

Power 3.0: PARALLEL PLATFORMS, PARALLEL PRINCIPLES: THE EMERGENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FROM AUTHORITARIAN SETTINGS

New applications have emerged from within authoritarian settings, where the space for independent scrutiny and pressure is far more limited. Dean Jackson‘s blog post  on “Parallel Platforms, Parallel Principles: The Emergence of Social Media from Authoritarian Settings” examines the fractioning information landscape where authoritarian manipulation of political discourse is enabled.

“The problem that ‘offshore’ has created for all these countries that are trying to follow the path that the UK, the US, and other Western countries followed is that they want to democratize, too. But it isn’t a fair fight anymore because the rulers of the countries and the corrupt people who are stealing all the money have far, far more tools at their disposal than anyone opposing them.”

— Oliver Bullough on “DICTATORS IN MONEYLAND“

 MORE FROM THE FORUM:   

• The Forum hosted an event on July 19 entitled “Creating a Resilient and Inclusive Democracy in India” with former Reagan-Fascell Fellow Elsa Marie D’Silva and Ambassador Melanne Verveer.
• A new Power 3.0 Podcast episode entitled “Contextualizing China’s Corrosive Capital” with Martin Hala covers the impact of China’s economic and political investments in Central and Eastern Europe.
• Sebastian Bay discusses social media manipulation as an emerging market for authoritarian regimes to influence democracies in the Power 3.0 Post: “Invisible Thumb: Studying the Market for Social Media Manipulation“
• Dean Jackson’s Blog Post “Not the Droids You’re Looking For: Bots and the Weaponization of Star Wars” was translated into Spanish by the Fundación Para el Progreso in Chile. Read more.
• Senior Director of the International Forum Shanthi Kalathil participated on a panel entitled “The Humanitarian Implications of Cyber Conflict” in September 2019 as part of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Washington Humanitarian Forum. Kalathil also participated in a panel entitled “Contemporary and Emerging Challenges: Digital Technologies and Human Rights” as part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Symposium on Human Rights and Digital Technologies.
• Vice President for Studies and Analysis Christopher Walker moderated a panel entitled “India’s Global Role: What’s Bubbling Under the Surface?” as part of the Forum 2000 Conference “Recovering the Promise of 1989” in Prague, Czech Republic. Marc Plattner, executive editor of the Journal of Democracy, also moderated a panel at the same conference entitled “The Third Wave of Autocratization: How to Face It?”

Read more posts from the Power 3.0 Blog.