Author: Dirk Huizenga

Founder of Denver Center for Democracy.

We need a true public space online!

The Internet holds a lot of promise for connecting people around the world.  The problem is that it has been taken over by corporations for their benefit, not necessarily ours.  What is needed is a social platform that is owned by the people that use it, without algorithms pushing content that is negative and often untrue.

A report1https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/11/22/the-future-of-digital-spaces-and-their-role-in-democracy/, released in 2021 by the Pew Research Center, stated, of the 862 expert respondents:

61% said they either hope or expect that by 2035 digital spaces and people’s uses of them WILL change in ways that significantly serve the public good. However, because some wrote that this is merely their hope and others listed one or more extremely difficult hurdles to overcome before that outcome can be achieved.

Some of the hurdles are:

  • Social media algorithms are the first thing to fix: Many of these experts said the key underlying problem is that social media platforms are designed for profit maximization and – in order to accelerate user engagement – these algorithms favor extreme and hateful speech.
  • General public’s digital literacy needs improvement by informing and educating the public.  People who better understand the impact of the emerging negatives in the digital sphere will become more involved and work to influence and motivate business and government leaders to upgrade public spaces.
  • Humans are self-centered and shortsighted, making them easy to manipulate: People’s attention and engagement in public online spaces are drawn by stimulating their emotions, playing to their survival instincts and stoking their fears.  Any new spaces that might be innovated and introduced can still be flooded with innuendo, accusation, fraud, lies and toxic divisiveness.

With these things in mind, I think there are many solutions already developed that can be used to create a new “Public Square”.  There will probably not be one solution, but several applications or platforms for the public to interact to exchange information, discuss solutions, build consensus, and support implementation of the best solutions.  My opinion is these platforms must be:

  1. Owned by the public: meaning non-profit organizations that implement, maintain, and support the platforms.  Organizations must be answerable to the public.  This eliminates the profit motive driving current social platforms to negative results.  Financial support must come from a broad base to reduce concentrations of power and influence.
  2. Free and open-source: meaning that software would be developed in a open and transparent way, to improve trust, and available to any group of people to use for their benefit at low cost.  This will also reduce lock-in that prevents people from changing platforms easily.
  3. Algorithms, used to select or promote content, are documented and ideally selectable.

To these ends, I am implementing a discussion forum to help accomplish these and other goals to improve democracy and society.

Improving Digital Literacy

Digital literacy refers to the ability to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information through digital technologies. Digital literacy is increasingly crucial for protecting democracy in our interconnected world. In the context of protecting democracy, it’s particularly focused on:

  1. Information evaluation:
  2. Spotting misinformation and disinformation:
  3. Understanding data privacy and security:
  4. Media creation and sharing:
  5. Critical thinking in the digital space:
    • Questioning the motivations behind online content.
    • Recognizing emotional manipulation in digital media.
    • Understanding filter bubbles and echo chambers.

To improve digital literacy:

  1. Education: Support digital literacy programs in schools and communities.
  2. Fact-checking: Familiarize yourself with fact-checking websites and teach others how to use them.
  3. Media diversity: Encourage consumption of diverse media sources to get a balanced perspective.
  4. Tech awareness: Stay informed about emerging technologies and their potential impacts on democracy.
  5. Online etiquette: Promote responsible online behavior and civil discourse.
  6. Platform knowledge: Understand how different social media platforms work, including their algorithms and content moderation policies.
  7. Data rights: Learn about data protection laws and advocate for strong privacy regulations.
  8. Cybersecurity practices: Adopt and promote good cybersecurity habits, like using a password manager, strong passwords and two-factor authentication.

By improving digital literacy, individuals can better navigate the complex online information landscape, make informed decisions, and contribute to a healthier democratic discourse.

Protecting Democracy

Experts predict a 19.2% four-year likelihood of democratic breakdown in the United States as of 2022.1

When democracy breaks down, it typically takes many years, often decades, to reverse the downward spiral. In the process, violence and corruption typically flourish, and talent and wealth flee to more stable countries, undermining national prosperity. It is not just our venerated institutions and norms that are at risk—it is our future national standing, strength, and ability to compete globally.2

As the chart below shows, by several indices, the United States’ democracy is in decline in recent years.

Our World in Data

There are many ways individuals can help protect and strengthen democracy in the United States. Here are some key actions you can take:

  1. Stay informed:
  • Follow reputable news sources to stay up-to-date on current events and political issues.
  • Fact-check information before sharing it to combat misinformation.
  1. Vote:
  • Register to vote and participate in all elections, including local ones.
  • Research candidates and ballot measures before voting.
  1. Engage in civic participation:
  • Attend town halls and local government meetings.
  • Contact your representatives about issues that matter to you.
  • Consider volunteering for campaigns or running for local office.
  1. Support a free press:
  • Subscribe to quality journalism outlets.
  • Advocate for press freedoms and protections for journalists.
  1. Promote civil discourse:
  • Engage in respectful political discussions with those who have different views.
  • Practice active listening and seek to understand others’ perspectives.
  1. Protect voting rights:
  • Support organizations working to ensure fair and accessible elections.
  • Volunteer as a poll worker or election observer.
  1. Strengthen democratic institutions:
  • Advocate for reforms that enhance government transparency and accountability.
  • Support nonpartisan redistricting efforts to combat gerrymandering.
  1. Educate others:
  • Discuss the importance of civic engagement with friends and family.
  • Support civics education in schools.
  1. Participate in peaceful protests and demonstrations:
  • Exercise your First Amendment rights to assembly and free speech.
  1. Support civil society organizations:
  • Donate to or volunteer with organizations that promote democratic values and civil rights.
  1. Promote digital literacy:
  • Learn and teach others how to identify online manipulation and disinformation.
  1. Encourage diverse representation:
  • Support candidates and initiatives that promote diversity in government.
  1. https://protectdemocracy.org/threat-index/↩︎
  2. https://www.newamerica.org/political-reform/statements/statement-of-concern/↩︎

 

Who gets to vote and who doesn’t

As our country approaches a presidential election in 2024, access to voting is changing at the state level.  A 2022 investigation from The Center for Public Integrity found over half the states in the United States of America had made access to voting worse than it had been previously.  Slightly less than half of the states had improved access to voting for their citizens. A handful of states remained unchanged.

The map below show which states changed which way.  Clicking on a state will open a state report on The Center for Public Integrity‘s web site.

 

The tactics to limit access range from removing voters from the rolls, to closing polling places in some areas, to gerrymandering. Gerrymander has negative connotations, and gerrymandering is almost always considered a corruption of the democratic process.  The Princeton’s Gerrymandering Project gave Florida an F grade on their 2022 congressional redistricting.

Gerrymandering Project map
Gerrymandering Project’s Report Card map

Democracy requires people voting to function well, but some people want to wipe out your vote! Find out what is happening in your state and make sure you vote counts.

Insurrection Defined

Watching the violence of January 6, 2021, I could not believe what I was witnessing in the United States of America.  As I watched and followed the news of this incident, some people called the act an insurrection and some people called it a peaceful protest with people taking a tour of the Capital building!

Well it was not peaceful and the crowd was not spontaneous in their efforts.  There was much rhetoric about “the steal” after the November 2020 election.  So the planning of the January 6th event began.

The Wall Street Journal published an opinion article that was titled Stop Calling Jan. 6 an ‘Insurrection’  behind their paywall but the beginning stated “That’s a legal term that denotes much more than a sporadically violent riot or disturbance.”1https://www.wsj.com/articles/stop-calling-jan-6-an-insurrection-capitol-riot-civil-disorder-insurgency-protest-first-amendment-11641417543  What happened on January 6th was not “a sporadically violent riot” but a on-going movement to keep a president, that lost reelection, in place as the president.

I went looking for legal definition of insurrection and found many references to the term, but no real definitions. The Constitution of the United States in the 14th Amendment states:

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.2https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/amendment-14/

The United State criminal code states:

§2383. Rebellion or insurrection

Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.3https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2010-title18/html/USCODE-2010-title18-partI-chap115-sec2383.htm

Still these references do not define “insurrection” so I continued to look for a definition.  The Oxford English Dictionary defines insurrection as

The action of rising in arms or open resistance against established authority or governmental restraint; with plural, an instance of this, an armed rising, a revolt; an incipient or limited rebellion.4“Insurrection, N.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, September 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7070529685.

After digging into the effort like a lawyer5I am not a lawyer, I just argue like one., I found some cases that did define insurrection.  In the Pan American World Airways, Inc. v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 505 F.2d 989, 1017 (2d Cir. 1974) case, the court stated

“Insurrection” presents the key issue because “rebellion,” “revolution,” and “civil war” are progressive stages in the development of civil unrest, the most rudimentary form of which is “insurrection.” … The district court held that the word insurrection means “[1] a violent uprising by a group or movement [2] acting for the specific purpose of overthrowing the constituted government and seizing its powers.”6https://casetext.com/case/pan-american-world-air-v-aetna-cas-sur

With that legal definition, I think a competent lawyer could argue the January 6th “incident” was an insurrection.  I cannot wait to see what the Supreme Court of the United States thinks about this incident.

Election information?

Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. In contrast, misinformation refers to inaccuracies that stem from inadvertent error.  Disinformation is an managed activity in which people introduce strategic deceptions and media manipulation tactics to facilitate political, military, or commercial goals.

UNESCO and Ipsos did a survey  (August-September 2023), in 16 countries, asking among other things,  “Are they concerned that disinformation will impact the next campaign?” The effort found the following key points.

  • 56% of internet users in the 16 countries surveyed frequently use social media as their primary source of news, surpassing television at 44%.
  • Trust in traditional media remains high, with 66% of those surveyed trusting television news, 63% trusting radio news, and 61% trusting print media news.
  • Internet users experience a high prevalence of disinformation on social media, with 68% indicating that disinformation is most widespread there.
  • 87% of respondents expressed concern about the impact of disinformation on upcoming elections in their country, with 47% being “very concerned”.
  • 67% of internet users have encountered hate speech online, with a majority believing it’s most prevalent on Facebook (58%).
  • There’s a strong call for regulation, with 88% believing that both governments and regulatory bodies, and social media platforms (90%) should address disinformation and hate speech issues.
  • A majority of internet users (89%) support the idea that governments and regulators should enforce trust and safety measures on social media platforms during election campaigns.
  • Only 48% of surveyed citizens have reported online content related to disinformation in the context of an election campaign.

In the United States, there is no oversight of the social media platforms by the government and social media companies have actually rolled back any self-policing of content for disinformation, because it works against their business model.  Their model is engagement by entertaining, not informing you.  Disinformation is actually amplified by the social media platforms.

The following image illustrates a two-phase framework conceptualizing the dissemination of disinformation on social media. The first phase is “seeding,” in which actors strategically insert misleading deceptions by masquerading or obfuscating statements as legitimate…. The second phase, “echoing,” represents how disinformation circulates in echo chambers through contradictions against opponents in cultural wars and other identity-driven controversies. Participants use falsehoods, selective truths, beliefs, value judgments, and all available controversies to rhetorically enact and exploit their identity in opposition to their perceived opponents.1Diaz Ruiz, C., & Nilsson, T. (2023). Disinformation and Echo Chambers: How Disinformation Circulates on Social Media Through Identity-Driven Controversies. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 42(1), 18-35. https://doi.org/10.1177/07439156221103852

Disinformation and echo chamber graphic Citizens in a democracy need a source of information the is not driven by the profit motive of social media platforms and is dedicated to presenting factual information for people to make good decisions.  Donating to this organization will help fund research and implementation of a platform to inform and amplify your voice.  Donate today, before our democracy  dies!

Can We Keep Our Republic?

When Benjamin Franklin left Independence Hall on the final day of deliberations at the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he was asked  “Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?” to which he responded “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

These days it sometimes feels like we are in danger of becoming a autocracy.  In the book How Democracies Die, the authors list four key indicators of authoritarian behavior to test leaders.

  1. Rejection of (or weak commitment to) democratic rules of the game.
  2. Denial of the legitimacy of political opponents.
  3. Toleration or encouragement of violence.
  4. Readiness to curtail civil liberties of opponents, including the media.

They maintain a politician that meets even one of these criteria is cause for concern.  In the last century authoritarian leaders have come to power, changing the existing government into a autocracy by fooling the kings or the people into thinking only that leader can fix everything.

Democracy Index map
Democracy Index map

In 2022, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) reported the United States of America (US) as a flawed democracy (overall score of 7.85 of 10), ranking 30 in a field of 167 countries analyzed in their report.  This is a decrease of four spots from 2021 report and kept the US in the flawed democracy group since 2016.  The report goes on to say:

The US’s overall score in the Democracy Index remains weighed down by the country’s intense levels of political and cultural polarisation. Pluralism and competing alternatives are essential for a functioning democracy, but differences of opinion in the US have hardened into political sectarianism and almost permanent institutional gridlock. This trend has long compromised the functioning of government, and the US score for this category remains at a low of 6.43 in 2022, unchanged from 2021….

Political culture is still the weakest category for the US, with a score of 6.25 in 2022, unchanged from 2021. Social cohesion and consensus have collapsed in recent years as disagreements over an expanding list of issues fuel the country’s “culture wars”….

These debates have extended beyond the usual set of actors (such as politicians and activists) and now implicate corporate executives as well as primary school teachers and librarians (over lesson plans and books discussing sexuality, gender and racial identity). A highly politicised media, including popular TV channels and social media platforms, continue to foment and amplify these divisions.

We must pull out of this democratic death spiral or we may end up with an autocracy!  “When American democracy has worked, it has relied upon two norms that we often take for granted—mutual tolerance and institutional forbearance.”1“How Democracies Die” pg 212 The political parties in the United States need to revive these norms and add new ones.  It cannot be done by one leader, it will take all of us! Get involved: vote; write letters to the editor; peacefully protest; contact your representatives; join with organizations like this one to amplify your voice. Do it today, before our democracy dies!

2023 Denver Democracy Summit

The Josef Korbel School of International Studies is pleased to announce that the 3rd Annual Denver Democracy Summit will be held October 25-26, 2023 on the University of Denver campus with proceedings streamed to a worldwide virtual audience. The Denver Democracy Summit will serve as a platform for the DU community and the world’s leading thought leaders on democracy to evaluate ongoing efforts to strengthen democratic norms, values, and institutions. The Summit will include discussions on democratic backsliding, political communication and misinformation, polarization and civil discourse, technology and democracy, and other topics.

More information at Denver Democracy Summit website.

Update 11/2/2023

If you did not have a chance to attend the Denver Democracy Summit you can watch the presentations on their YouTube channel playlist.

What is Liquid Democracy?

Liquid democracy is a hybrid form of democracy that combines elements of direct and representative democracy. It allows citizens to have a more dynamic and flexible role in the decision-making process. In a traditional representative democracy, people vote for elected officials who make decisions on their behalf. In a direct democracy, individuals vote directly on specific issues or policies. Liquid democracy seeks to bridge the gap between these two approaches.

In a liquid democracy, citizens have the option to either vote on issues directly or delegate their votes to someone they trust. Delegating votes means that an individual can choose another person, often referred to as a proxy or delegate, to vote on their behalf. The key feature of liquid democracy is that delegation can be temporary and can be reassigned at any time. This means that individuals can delegate their votes on specific issues to different people based on their expertise, trust, or personal preferences. For example, if you trust someone’s judgment on environmental issues, you can delegate your vote to them for those matters, while delegating your vote to someone else for economic policy decisions.

The goal of liquid democracy is to increase citizen participation and engagement in the decision-making process, while also benefiting from the expertise and knowledge of individuals who are well-versed in certain areas. It offers more flexibility and adaptability compared to traditional democratic models. Digital technology and online platforms have made it easier to implement liquid democracy by allowing for secure and efficient voting and delegation.

Liquid democracy is still a relatively new concept and has been experimented with in various contexts, such as political parties (German Pirate Party, Partido de la Red), organizations, and even some governments (Argentina). Its success and practicality can vary depending on the specific implementation and the cultural and political context in which it is used. Some current open-source software implementations are LiquidFeedback and DemocracyOS.