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One of the important ways that GPAHE has been working to resist growing far-right authoritarianism and preserve democracy is through our participation in the “Year of Action” of the US Summit for Democracy (S4D). This is a flagship presidential initiative of the Biden-Harris administration for strengthening democracies worldwide in the face of growing dangers created by division and polarization, authoritarian tendencies, and new technologies. GPAHE is a contributing member of S4D’s Information Integrity working group, which is composed of government and civil society representatives from around the world to address the threat of disinformation and harassment targeted at vulnerable communities to influence elections.
This week, the working group, led by the German Agency for International Cooperation, a division of the German Foreign Ministry, and convened by Canada, Latvia, and the Alliance for Securing Democracy, released important findings on threats to democracy in the report, “Mitigating the Risks of Political Microtargeting – Guidance for Policymakers, Civil Society and Development Cooperation”.
In this year of elections and age of distressingly sophisticated disinformation campaigns designed to subvert thriving democracies, political advertising microtargeting (PMT) takes on a heightened importance. When not used for legitimate purposes, It is associated with major risks.
From the report: “Chief among [the risks] are voter manipulation and demobilization, lack of transparency, spread of disinformation, unfair competition between political actors, foreign influence into domestic affairs, privacy violations, difficulty of public scrutiny and counter speech, distortion of voter model and political mandates, discrimination, and political polarization. On an individual level, these risks may result in a violation of human autonomy and dignity. On the collective, societal level, the use of PMT may pose a threat to social cohesion, national sovereignty, fair and informed public discourse, and the principle of free and fair elections, thus potentially undermining the foundations of democracy.”
Please take a moment to read more about the consequences of manipulating this political tool and our recommendations to address the challenge, to combat authoritarian rule and preserve democracies around the world.
