Opinion on democracy in the digital age
European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies, 2023
EGE
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.