With the aim of fostering an informed debate and promoting a public interest agenda for civil society, regulators, private actors and other stakeholders in Latin America on the impact of technology on democracy and human rights, in June 2024 we launched the Network of Experts on Democracy and Technology (REDT) in partnership with La Silla Vacía, one of Colombia's leading digital media outlets.
Through this Network, we bring together expert voices from the region to share their perspectives on topics such as:
- Online manipulation and disinformation: coordinated strategies to spread false or misleading narratives, the role of platforms to counteract them, the risks of synthetic content and models to combat disinformation.
- Journalism and the attention economy: the relationship of journalism with new technologies, the challenges of its financing and the risks faced in social networks.
- Electoral integrity: the impact of technology on democracy, from disinformation and campaign automation to fraud narratives that erode trust in civic processes. The role of platforms, digital monitoring and strategies to protect the vote and the legitimacy of electoral processes.
- Artificial intelligence: its risks to human rights, the gaps in its development between the global south and north, and the automation of decisions in the public sector.
- Content governance: platforms' content policies, their criteria for moderating speech and the effects of their power on freedom of expression and user safety. It also addresses state attempts to regulate platforms, the impact of new laws on civic space and the tensions between sovereignty, digital rights and self-regulation.
- Digital economy and techwork: the impact of big tech on the labor market, emerging regulations and economic models shaping the future of digital work.
In its first six months, the Network has been a key space for debate on the decolonization of data, the participation of technology giants in politics, the impact of the gig economy on the labor market, forced recruitment through social networks and the risks of facial recognition programs in the public sphere.
To provide a regional overview of these phenomena, we have worked with civil society leaders, academics and experts from countries such as Colombia, Argentina and Brazil.
In addition to being a platform for hosting and disseminating content from informed voices in Latin America, REDT seeks to create spaces for meeting - in person and virtually - with multiple stakeholders to exchange ideas and explore joint paths to address technological challenges, as well as to produce strategic inputs to inform campaigns, public policy and other initiatives.
Who can join the Network?
We invite those who want to join the debate and share their perspectives through texts of between 800 and 1,000 words. The Linterna Verde and La Silla Vacía team will be in charge of editing the columns and may suggest adjustments in the wording or focus of the texts.
In the case of digital rights organizations or academic institutions, texts that have appeared on their website or blogs may be published, provided they are relevant and signed in the name of one or more persons. Articles that have appeared before or will appear in other media may not be published.
For the time being, the system of collaboration in the Network of Experts on Democracy and Technology is ad-honorem.
Columns must follow the The Empty Chair Expert Network Rules of the Game.
For more information, please contact us at alejandro.moreno@linternaverde.co. Please note that submitting a text does not guarantee its publication, as each article goes through a review and editing process.
