The Future of Democracy Challenged in the Digital Age

Abstract

Recent evidence is marshalled concerning the impact on democracies of the global explosion of electronic platforms and digital companies, based initially on the US government- supported and now worldwide Internet. These companies, driving Wall Street stock prices, are still largely unregulated and unchecked by conventional anti-trust regulations, especially in the USA. These companies, especially the social media giants, are examined for their growing threats to democracies in all countries. This paper explores deeper structural issues and further threats to democracies posed by the basic business and operating models of these giant global corporations. Their vast profitability rests on capturing huge caches of private personal information on their registered users by offering “free” services. This Orwellian data-trove is then sold to advertisers, thousands of third-party marketing firms, politicians and too often to officials of repressive regimes. This tsunami of personal data allows surveillance of citizens in both democracies and autocratic states. Evidence of such perversion of free speech and privacy in democracies is documented. Proposals are offered for government regulation building on the EU’s GDPR. Also proposed is reinforcing personal privacy autonomy and freedom by expanding Habeas Corpus, the ancient English common law. The paper also includes an overview of the threats to democracy from other forms of market-based commercial activity including the global financialization of worldwide stock, bond and currency markets, central banks’ policies, and efforts to reform these securities markets. All these threats to democracies continue, and addressing the issues requires a more future-oriented approach to planetary environmental risks, rather than anthropocentric academic studies and conventional reforms of past times.