How can we structure digital spaces more democratically?

Digital technologies have changed and are changing our world. But the euphoria about these technologies not only improving connectivity, but creating a global public sphere have given way to caution about their impact. With the increasing monopolization of digital infrastructure and accumulation of power by a few giant Big Tech companies, there is increasing concern over its impact on our freedoms, as well as the ways in which it shapes how we live and perceive the world. In this episode, Evgeny Morozov (founder of the content recommendation website The Syllabus) helps us understand how we can structure digital spaces more democratically, while harvesting the transformational potential of these technologies.

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by:

• The Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna: IWM

• The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD

• The Excellence Chair and Soft Authoritarianism Research Group in Bremen: WOC

• The Podcast Company: Earshot Strategies

Follow us on social media!

• Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna: @IWM_Vienna

• Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre

• Our guest Evgeny Morovoz: @evgenymorozov

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Digital Socialism? The Calculation Debate in the Age of Big Data. (2019).

• To Save Everything, Click Here. (2014).

GLOSSARY

What is Davos?

(00:07:00 or p. 5 in the transcript)

Davos is a town in the Swiss Alps which is best known for hosting the annual World Economic Forum. To learn more about the World Economic Forum, click here.

Who are Larry Page and Sergey Brin?

(00:19:30 or p. 13 in the transcript)

Larry Page and Sergey Brin are the founders of Google. They met in 1995 at Stanford University. In this part of the episode our guest Evgeny Morozov is referencing Google’s origin story. To learn more about Google’s history click here.

What is Mountain View?

(00:19:30 or p. 13 in the transcript)

Mountain View is the birthplace of Silicon Valley and is the location of many of the world's largest technology companies, including Google and Alphabet Inc., Mozilla Foundation, Intuit, NASA Ames research center, and major headquarter offices for Microsoft, Symantec, 23andMe, LinkedIn, Samsung, and Synopsys. Source.

Who is Edward Snowden?

(00:22:30 or p. 15 in the transcript)

Edward Snowden is the whistleblower who revealed the NSA’s mass surveillance program in the biggest intelligence leak in the NSA’s history. Learn more about his leak from this 2013 article.

What is AI?

(00:25:00 or p. 16 in the transcript)

AI is short for Artificial Intelligence, a term that describes the ability of computers to perform tasks that are usually associated with intelligent beings. The term also often refers to the project of developing systems endowed with the intellectual processes characteristic of humans. Click here to learn more.