Some thoughts about democracy from a former candidate for president

Four years ago I ran for president of my country, Iceland. I had no previous political experience and as an independent and entrepreneurial candidate the odds were stacked against me. The polls had me at 1% only forty five days before election day - and the day before the elections they had me at 18%. I ended up as the runner-up with nearly 30% of the vote. I was asked to share the story on the TED stage where I presented my early insights into what was an overwhelmingly positive experience, but also touched upon a few of the challenges along the way.

Democracy is the foundation for functioning societies and healthy economies and it is in all of our interest to support the integrity and outcomes of elections. Building partly on my past experience but also on my current experience working in the United States, I find myself hard at thought about how we can support the health of our democracies during a time where we see them facing threats all over the world. The concerns are global, but there is no denying that the world's eyes are now on the elections in the oldest modern democracy, the United Stated of America.

Over ninety percent of Americans agree it is important to live in a democracy but according to Democracy for President half of them are dissatisfied with the way democracy now works. Eighty eight percent of Americans worry about the spread of mis- and disinformation and eight out of ten worry about foreign intervention in the election.

And while majority of voters, regardless of political orientation, believe it is more important to come together as a nation than to challenge the election, seventy five percent of voters are worried we won‘t know the outcome on election day and seventy one percent of Americans expect widespread violence in the streets.

These numbers should give all of us pause, no matter where we live.

As I see it, there are primarily three forces behind the growing divisions and diminishing trust in democracy. First, we have an economic system that has left too many people behind. Second, we have a crisis in leadership. Third, our social media platforms trigger and spread anger, fear, hate and violence.

The fifty wealthiest Americans now hold nearly as much wealth as the poorest 165 million Americans and globally, 22 men have more wealth than all the women in Africa. The Covid-19 pandemic has further accelerated our crises of inequality and this wealth disparity is even more stark when looked at by race, gender, age and class. For decades, education, healthcare, tax and social protection policies have driven these divides and while the current reality may still be working for the few, the lack of equity, opportunity and access has essentially left the many behind with a broken social contract. Calls to rethink our economic system and end the Friedman era of shareholder primacy are now coming not just from those left behind, but also from academics, business leaders, investors and civil society - we are collectively waking up to the stark inequalities in our societies.

At the same time we seem to lack the leadership needed to meet this moment, nationally as well as globally. Politicians are busy driving deeper divides at a time that calls for us to unite in order to effectively tackle our many great challenges, from covid-19 to climate change to low trust and economic inequality. Instead of painting a new vision for an economic system that can truly drive shared prosperity and the wellbeing of people and planet, we see them undermining the integrity of the election and questioning if the outcome will be respected. This crisis in leadership is further escalated by social media that seems designed to spread lies, fear and hate faster than truth, curiosity and love and whose algorithms gather people in communities of conspiracy and violence.

While I appreciate recent attempts at exercising principled leadership, at the helm of social media, I fear these efforts are far from enough to defend against the demise of our democracies around the world. Ultimately, the future of democracy rests in the hands of voters and I urge every American to vote like democracy depends upon it, because it does. I am encouraged by the voter turnout - which in some places already surpasses the entire turnout in 2016. I'd like to appeal to social media leaders to consider what more they can do to avoid going down in history as enablers of democracy‘s demise.

Is it too much to ask that social media, like other media, be held responsible for the truth of what is shared on its platform? Is it too much to ask for platform accountability and only allow profiles for real human beings, essentially banning all bots? Is it too much to ask that all resources be directed at removing every post and person that incites violence and abuse of any kind? 

It seems imperative for Facebook‘s future as well as the future of democracy to meet this moment with the leadership it calls for. History is watching and will without doubt render its verdict. The company itself is a great example of how technology can enable new norms and behaviors. Why not consider how the use of this enormously powerful platform can pivot away from spreading poison to truly becoming a platform for positive change and impact in a world in need. Such a decision would begin by embracing a purpose that goes beyond connecting people and would essentially require principled leadership to ensure that only connections for good survive and thrive on the platform.

Leaders from across business and society must meet this moment of deep divides within countries and between countries by bringing people together. Let us listen and learn and find both the courage and humility to come together to chart a more united path of continued progress for humanity. Let us defeat fear with hope, hate with love and we will become less divided and more united for a better world.