Olga Solovyeva - Tech Companies can’t Ignore their Responsibilities to Support Democratic Resilience

Until February 2022, the war in Ukraine could be dismissed by some as a “quarrel in a faraway country, between people of whom we know nothing”, especially if they had been influenced by aggressive Russian propaganda and the techniques of hybrid information warfare. But in 2022 the war became full scale, and the propagandistic subterfuge was far less effective. The hot war may be in full swing, but that has not diminished the intensity of the information war. The public in the West may not consider itself at war with Russia, but the ongoing assault of the digital authoritarians on our institutions, systems and media tells a different story. Today we examine why companies can’t ignore their responsibility to help make societies and democratic institutions more resilient against the malign influence of ill-intentioned actors. ~~~~~ Olga Solovyeva is a social researcher with experience in higher education, business, and civil society organisations. Her areas of expertise areas include communication, technology, and society. She works on issues of data ethics, IT business regulation, and the relationship between the state and tech in Russia and writes on these topics for academic, professional, and general audiences. ~|~|~|~|~ Links: https://globalvoices.org/2023/04/19/why-tech-companies-can-no-longer-ignore-their-role-in-shaping-politics-and-society/ https://blogs.helsinki.fi/russianmedialab/2023/02/24/digital-authoritarianism-and-it-business-in-russia-online-talk-on-russian-media-in-march/?fbclid=IwAR3InY7bLXK_1hBjio2hpDbE4HIWy_lm1YriXxT47wDcPAm1kxt7vvi_y2o https://advox.globalvoices.org/2022/07/06/disinformation-2-0-should-we-bring-the-notion-of-propaganda-back-into-public-discourse/ https://globalvoices.org/2022/03/25/keeping-fakes-under-control-how-legislation-on-disinformation-turns-into-a-censorship-tool/ ~~~~~