Democracy and Citizenship Speakers Series

“Digital Democracy and Digital Sovereignty: How China, Russia, Europe, and the United States are Forging a Fractured, New, Digital Ecosystem”

Through the first 30 years of the development of the internet, we were promised a global “network of networks” that would offer free speech, democratic empowerment, and the spread of democracy.

Leaders from Ronald Reagan to Margaret Thatcher to Barack Obama all promised that technology would unite and enlighten the world. Somehow it all went wrong.

In this talk, Professor Siva Vaidhyanathan will explain the idea of “digital sovereignty,” the ways that a nation creates and enforces its own sense of what should be allowed and watched on digital networks.

There are many models of “digital sovereignty,” each offering a distinct set of value and opportunities, as well as methods of oppression. This talk will focus on how the Russian invasion of Ukraine exposes the dangers and necessities of digital sovereignty.

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