CIGI Newsletter: June 4th, 2024 - Elections Are Under Threat: Are Platforms Doing Enough?
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
CIGI offers expert research and policy analysis at the intersection of technology and international governance.
Q&A: Elections Are Under Threat Worldwide. Are Online Platforms Doing Enough?
On June 2, nearly 100 million Mexican citizens were eligible to vote for a new president, 628 seats in Congress, nine governorships and thousands of municipal positions, following a heated and occasionally violent campaign.
In the run-up to Sunday’s elections, Chris Tenove spoke to Pamela San Martín, a senior electoral official during the country’s previous presidential election and now a member of Meta’s Oversight Board, about the election in Mexico and what social media platforms can do to improve free and fair elections globally.
Half the world’s population goes to the polls in 2024. This is the fourth in a series of commentaries from CIGI created in partnership with the Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions at UBC to explore the intersection of technology with the most pivotal among these elections.
AI Populism Roils a Fragile International Order
“From the United States, to Brazil, India, Indonesia and South Africa, vast numbers of citizens believe the ‘system’ is broken, and that politicians and their parties no longer care about the average person. Perceptions of a rigged system reinforce this malaise.”
For many, Clifford Young says, a strong leader who is willing to break the rules seems the only solution. Young calls this idea “caudillo” syndrome and says his research shows the belief has become a global phenomenon correlated with illiberal outcomes. It’s against this backdrop that the impacts of artificial intelligence and the hopes and fears people hold about transformative technologies must be understood: “Ultimately, it will be public opinion that mediates much of technology’s effects on our societies.”
Competition Policy in the 21st Century: Charting a Path Forward for Canada
On June 12 and 13, Vass Bednar, Patrick Leblond and Jennifer Quaid will be among those leading a series of in-depth discussions at the University of Ottawa on the reform and modernization of Canadian competition law. This free in-person symposium for researchers, students and the general public is presented by the Faculty of Law, Civil Law Section, and supported by CIGI and other sponsors.
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Register now: Speakers Adam Segal and Pablo Chavez will be discussing “What is digital solidarity? And can the United States convince others that collaboration is in the world’s interest?” in a free webinar on Wednesday, June 12.
This one-hour event, moderated by Susan Aaronson , is hosted by the Digital Trade & Data Governance Hub at the George Washington University, in partnership with CIGI. Request your Zoom invite link here.
Canada’s Bill C-63: Good Politics, (Mostly) Empty Policy
In this opinion, Blayne Haggart critiques Canada’s Online Harms Act. Its fundamental flaw, he says, is to treat “social media companies like daycare providers, when they’re actually more akin to cigarette makers.”
Haggart argues that “overall, this legislation creates a regulator with the potential to do good, if it is well-funded and staffed by suitably ambitious people. But it is a series of half measures. What’s most needed is for the government to fully embrace equality and freedom from domination as prerequisites for true freedom of expression.…This politically expedient, unambitious legislation fails to address the very real needs of so many Canadians. Some things should be worth fighting over.”
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In mid-May, CIGI and the Institute for Global Law and Policy (IGLP) at Harvard Law School — represented here by IGLP Faculty Director David Kennedy (left) and CIGI President Paul Samson — hosted a three-day advanced research colloquium for faculty in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where they discussed “Knowledge as Power in Today’s World.”
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