We live in interesting times. Democratic values are under pressure, tech has become politics — or perhaps it always was — and the well-known Big Tech social media platforms are hotbeds of disinformation and hate speech, firmly in the grip of the broligarchy and their own interests and ideologies.
The picture is stark: according to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, young people aged 18–24 are now clearly social-first rather than online-first when it comes to news. Where ten years ago they primarily accessed news through publishers' websites and apps, today their main source is social media, with TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube overtaking Facebook as the dominant platforms. This does not bode well for the future of our democracy.
Can journalism use open social networks to combat disinformation, hate speech, and news fatigue, and free audiences from broligarchical algorithms, while still earning a living? What is the role of politicians, representatives, legislation, and the enforcement of judicial agreements? And what examples should we look to for inspiration and guidance? This panel dives deeper into the Open Social Web and the possibilities for journalism to contribute to the well-informed citizens needed to uphold and strengthen our democracy.