Human Rights Council Examines Nefarious Impact of Emerging Technologies When Left Unchecked

Emerging Technologies Are Tearing Apart the Fabric of Democracy. Are There Opportunities to Support the Promotion of Human Rights?

That emerging technologies are tearing apart democracies around the globe is no secret, in spite of the initial misguided and well-funded attempts to muddy the waters and pretend the dog ate the internal report by policy and external affairs staff at some technology companies and authoritarian governments alike.

As when Facebook tried to shut-up British journalist Carole Cadwalladr— threatening to sue her, The Observer, and The Guardian, for exposing Facebook’s role on the outcome of the Brexit referendum and the atrocities committed by rightwing extremists, including the killing of Jo Cox, a Member of the UK Parliament, all enabled by the platform.

That was 2017. In 2018 the UK parliament requested a hearing with experts to explain in lay terms what was going on. Journalists and anyone working in strategic communications and political campaigns understood the impact of these tech platforms. Nothing new. It has been happening since at least early 2000’s.

If tech created the problem can…