“It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind, who harness old social forces and contrive new
ways to bind and guide the world” (Edward Bernays, Propaganda)
The course analyzes how internet is redefining contemporary democracy focusing in particular on the
recent phenomena of public opinion conditioning, on the decline of intermediate bodies with the related
marginalization of experts, on the info-wars waged by organized groups and at times autocratic foreign
governments, on freedom of expression in the social media and on who should set its limits (if any).
International Workshop (27/01 – 29/01/2023)
The workshop gathers experts from different fields (philosophers, experts of complex systems, lawyers)
and focuses on the way in which the internet, and the social media in particular, have dramatically altered
the traditional manner in which the right to freedom of expression is understood. The workshop also
investigates how this fundamental right should be redefined to avoid patent distortions of public opinion
while preserving – to some extent at least – individuals’ liberty of sharing ideas something demonstrably
false and perhaps even damaging for the general good of the society. Given the crucial role of free speech
in any open society, the workshop also discusses the potential repercussions of this redefinition on the
pillars of liberal democracy.
ways to bind and guide the world” (Edward Bernays, Propaganda)
The course analyzes how internet is redefining contemporary democracy focusing in particular on the
recent phenomena of public opinion conditioning, on the decline of intermediate bodies with the related
marginalization of experts, on the info-wars waged by organized groups and at times autocratic foreign
governments, on freedom of expression in the social media and on who should set its limits (if any).
International Workshop (27/01 – 29/01/2023)
The workshop gathers experts from different fields (philosophers, experts of complex systems, lawyers)
and focuses on the way in which the internet, and the social media in particular, have dramatically altered
the traditional manner in which the right to freedom of expression is understood. The workshop also
investigates how this fundamental right should be redefined to avoid patent distortions of public opinion
while preserving – to some extent at least – individuals’ liberty of sharing ideas something demonstrably
false and perhaps even damaging for the general good of the society. Given the crucial role of free speech
in any open society, the workshop also discusses the potential repercussions of this redefinition on the
pillars of liberal democracy.
- Kursleiter/in: Dimitrios Georgios Oikonomou
- Kursleiter/in: Martina Tomczak
Semester: WT 2024/25