The next Meet-up is coming up on the 28th April! This time a Scottish city user of our platform will be having the spotlight: North Ayrshire Council.
Details and registration through OpenCollective: https://opencollective.com/consuldemocracy/events/consul-meet-up-the-scottish-experience-using-and-adapting-consul-in-north-ayrshire-84d908c2
Today at 15:00 UTC!
Join us for a key discussion on Technological Governance—an essential part of Decidim’s future. Don't miss the chance to contribute and refine the draft!
meta.decidim.org/processes/in...
What a fantastic two days at the OECD Bootcamp in Lisbon! The @decidim team supported public orgs in designing impactful processes, leveraging emerging tech to truly empower citizen participation. #CivicTech #DigitalDemocracy
Have you ever been in a book club / #reading_group / seminar (with open education principles)? An essential part is coming up with a Syllabus. I am looking for tools for a democratic syllabus, that can be crafted together. Somehow like @zotero + @LemmyDev
I want reading group members (or students) to:
- propose literature (ideally just through a DOI)
- rate proposals (up and down vote)
- comment literature proposals
- rate comments
We are leaving X.
It has been a long due decision. Over a year ago, as X’s degradation became clear, we opened this Mastodon account to transition our followers gradually. Despite our consistent posting, building an active, engaged community on Mastodon has proven challenging, and we continue to work towards a vibrant space for public dialogue.
X has become a hub for rising hate speech, misinformation, and toxic behavior, eroding its capacity to support constructive discourse and democratic values. These developments strike at the heart of what FIDE stands for, and we can no longer endorse a platform that disregards the principles of respectful, inclusive dialogue.
With this announcement, we call on others to support online spaces that uphold democratic values—platforms where respect, truth, and inclusivity prevail. Let’s build communities that prioritize the integrity of information and open, diverse engagement.
Taiwan has adopted tools of digital democracy that other countries can learn from
@ntnsndr Finished reading Governable Spaces yesterday on a flight and it's really gotten me thinking about how I can contribute to making a more democratic Internet :)
"As an open project, #vTaiwan attracts people from multiple disciplines including law makers, public servants, developers, designers, writers, researchers, journalists, film makers and much more.
The #vTaiwan process consists of four successive stages - proposal, opinion, reflection and legislation - supported by a selection of colloborative #opensource engagement tools."
#digitaldemocracy
https://info.vtaiwan.tw/#three
"#Taiwan might not seem like the most obvious place for a pioneering exercise in #digitaldemocracy. The island held its 1st direct presidential election in 1996…But…Taiwanese have a history of taking to the streets to push back against heavy-handed government. In Taiwan’s democratic era, it was a protest 4 yrs ago that planted the seed for this innovative political experiment."
https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/08/21/240284/the-simple-but-ingenious-system-taiwan-uses-to-crowdsource-its-laws/
While Mastodon is great, it is still subject to the same implicit feudalism mechanisms as other social media (unless you're on a server such as social.coop which builds consensus decision-making into their structure).
Working with frontline communities to use technology to defend their rights and fight climate change, Digital Democracy is seeking a React Native Developer to join its remote team. Learn more on #OSJH https://opensourcejobhub.com/company/961/ #ReactNative #AppDeveloper #RemoteWork #DigitalDemocracy #OpenSource #career #jobs
Setting out a long-term scientific agenda for digital democracy.
I hope this paper sparks lots of discussion, new collaborations and new research
Thread on AI and Big Tech Dominance
Big Tech's grip on AI is undeniable. Companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are not just tech giants; they're the backbone of AI development and deployment. Most AI startups and labs depend on their infrastructure.
This concentration of power in AI isn't just a market issue; it's a democratic one. Relying on a few corporate giants for essential AI infrastructure raises concerns about democracy, culture, and individual agency.
Remember Cambridge Analytica? It's one example of the risks posed by concentrated AI power. This setup creates vulnerabilities and systemic risks, as noted by SEC chair Gary Gensler. 
Even open-source AI initiatives, like Meta's LLaMA-2 or Eleuther's Pythia, can't fully break free from industry concentration. The term "open-source AI" is complex and varied in its meaning. 
The AI industry's business model heavily relies on cloud profits for Big Tech. AI services are often bundled with cloud infrastructure, reflecting a dependency that's hard to break.
Regulation could be a solution, but it often ends up reinforcing Big Tech's power. Microsoft's recent £2.5 billion investment in UK cloud infrastructure is a prime example of this dynamic. 
Big Tech companies are using their economic and political clout to maintain dominance. From lobbying efforts to strategic investments, they're actively shaping AI policies and regulations. 
AI's future is heavily influenced by Big Tech's infrastructure and policy maneuvers. This dominance poses challenges for market competition, democratic values, and the shaping of AI's ethical and societal impacts.
#AI #BigTech #TechnologyPolicy #DigitalDemocracy 
https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/12/05/1084393/make-no-mistake-ai-is-owned-by-big-tech/
Protecting digital democracy
Attempts by the United Nations to create multilateral safeguards for the digital world shouldn’t allow brutal dictatorships such as Russia and China to circumscribe free speech to protect their own interests and agenda. #digitaldemocracy
https://www.openforum.com.au/forums/protecting-digital-democracy/
Delighted to be at the National Endowment for Democracy to talk about #dataprivacy implications for #democracy activism. Great group of international experts talking about the negative impacts of data in their societies #digitaldemocracy
If you are curious about the novel results published in Science and Nature by the collaboration btw Meta and US academics, you might want to read #ComplexityThoughts
I try to build some background for non-experts of #ComputationalSocialScience and summarize the main findings.
Finally, I dig into the ongoing debate, covering existing documents and my chats with Sandra González-Bailón, Sander van der Linden, Pierluigi Sacco and others
This debate might be of high interest for self-organized decentralized platforms, such as #Mastodon and the #Fediverse in general
You can read the (100% free) piece here: https://manlius.substack.com/p/are-social-media-undermining-democracy
If you find https://manlius.substack.com/ useful, please subscribe. It is (and will always be) free.
"Online forums and social media have changed the way campaigns and political groups are able to disseminate ideas and communicate with one another. But what they’ve been less good at is more empathy-building forms of engagement, namely those that require deliberation and consensus."
#TheoBass, 2019
https://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/crowdsourcing-democracy-using-wikisurveys/
#Event: Launch of the #DigitalDemocracy Initiative on 28 March, 17.00 CET
Panel speakers:
Mouna Ben Garga,
Innovation Lead, CIVICUS
Marwa Fatafta,
Interim Director for Policy and International Programs, Access Now
Xeenarh Mohammed,
Regional Project Manager for Africa, Digital Defenders Partnership
Brian Malika,
Founder of One More Percent,
Partner of Global Focus
Register to attend the virtual event here: https://webinar.thetradecouncil.dk/the-launch-of-the-digital-democracy
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(he/him) 
