With Twitter lauded for bringing down tyrannies and Facebook valued at more than $50 billion, we seem to be entering a new phase of digital utopianism. The interactivity of social networking and open data are seen by many as the drivers of a more participatory and democratic culture.
Yet critics have long argued against the effects of the net in relation to privacy and corporate power, and argue the web’s culture of personalization undermines the exercise of democratic judgment.
This event attempts to distinguish the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to the interaction between new media and politics.
Speakers
- Evgeny Morozov, author of The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom, and former Open Society Fellow
- Dan Hind, author of The Return of the Public
- Tom Chatfield, technology and cultural commentator, and author of Fun Inc
- Ben Hammersley, editor-at-large of Wired UK (moderator)
This event is one in a series of seminars sponsored by Demos and the Open Society Foundations, examining the challenges and opportunities facing open societies in the 21st century.