Tech and the Future of Democracy
summary
Claims that tech both amplifies anti‑democratic forces and can rebuild civic life through design; argues democracy needs voice, trust, and free flow of information and offers concrete interventions: Microsoft-style pillars of open and secure elections, information ecosystem fixes, civic engagement programs; experiments include a Seattle vaccine clinic that reached 22,000 people a day, high‑school media‑literacy pilots, a project mapping the modern agora, supply‑chain provenance using blockchain for cobalt, and a push for transparency, regulation, and decomposable local control for federated web3 governance.
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chapters (20)
- 0:00Intro
- 1:15Welcome
- 3:04What is the intersection between technology and democracy
- 9:20Why is Microsoft focused on democracy
- 13:55Disruption of democracy
- 15:02Are humans equipped for democracy
- 16:31Design the genie
- 18:35Local vs national news
- 22:46Trust in tech
- 23:46Transparency
- 25:02Trust
- 27:59Decomposable local control
- 31:38Digital natives
- 32:21Young people
- 34:39Community
- 37:52War in Ukraine
- 40:06Democracy in the US
- 43:29Wikipedia
- 44:49Public square design
- 49:52Conclusion
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