v3.3: Trust the (democratic) process

This is a big year for democracy. In 2024, more than 2 billion people will go to the polls in over 65 elections across the world. So let’s talk about how tech intersects with that democratic process.

Some have even called it a “make or break year” for tech and democracy, such as Year of Democracy, an international coalition calling for Big Tech to make online platforms safer in order to diminish threats to democracy.

What threats, you ask?

Well there was the January 6th riots on the US Capitol stirred up by social media, followed two years later by hauntingly similar anti-democracy riots in Brazil.

Since then, many platforms’ trust and safety teams have been gutted in the recent swathes of tech layoffs. 👎🏻

And there’s still good old-fashioned hacking with a sprinkling of misinformation. Remember the 2016 hack on the US Democrats? This gave fuel to the ‘but her emails’ fire and a US investigation concluded it was the work of Russian intelligence agents.

After years of tech platforms being weaponised to disrupt democracy, they’re learning to get a handle on things, right? Well, Meta’s decided to just limit political content on its platforms, which is a bit like shrugging and saying, “Too hard, can’t.” 🤷🏻‍♀️

And now there are new technologies to contend with, like generative AI. AI-generated images have already been used in promotional materials for India’s election, which is currently taking place. Meanwhile, Meta is working on labelling AI-generated content, though it will largely depend on self-disclosure. 🙄

Of course, gen-AI is a boon for purveyors of disinformation, but the most advanced technologies, such as Microsoft’s VASA-1, are not publicly available – so at least there’s that!

If all this makes you feel like a dog casually sipping coffee in a burning house, fear not! Because we have tech and democracy strategist Liz Carolan beaming in with a sunnier outlook. ☀️

Liz is the founder of Digital Action, a globally connected organisation campaigning to protect democracy and human rights from digital threats, and recently launched The Briefing, a newsletter on technology and politics through an Irish lens. (We highly recommend signing up.) 📧

Liz explains how she remains (mostly) hopeful in the face of these threats to democracy, but she also flagged the gaps in legislation, which has in no way kept up with modern media. (Like, sure, a broadcast moratorium made sense at one time, but now we have online content generated 24/7 – and an example of how this was already weaponised in a recent Slovakian election.)

Thankfully, Liz also gave us all tips on how to muddle through the misinformation. First, you can check all the platforms’ ad libraries to learn a lot about political campaigning (though, admittedly, they can be messy and hard to navigate):

• Meta
• X
• Google

You might also want to add these words to your lexicon:

As a handy example of spamouflage, just think of this misguided Fine Gael spoof on Fianna Fáil’s ‘search for ideas’. Cringe! 😬

And don’t forget: We go to the polls here in Ireland on 7 June. Check the register, and use your vote. 🗳️

Want to hear more?

If you enjoyed this episode of For Tech’s Sake then there are others you may also want to check out, as good companions to some of the themes discussed here:

🥸 Deepfakes with Dr Conor Linehan

⚖️ AI ethics with Dr Patricia Scanlon, Ireland's AI ambassador

👀 Content moderation with Aoife Barry

🔍 Recommendations engines with Prof Gareth Jones

Next week, we’ll have a special bonus episode exclusive for HeadStuff+ Community members, so if you really want to hear from us every week, you’ll have to become a member here.