How to protect public values in a digital society

  • Eva de Valk
  • January 2021

Recent developments make it clear that the way in which we organize our information supply can have major social consequences. Digitization has implications for democracy. SIDN Fund and Adessium Foundation awarded nine projects with a grant following a joint call linked to the theme of Public Values in a Digital Society. These projects aim to protect and strengthen the information position of the individual in our digital society. At the beginning of 2020, they started in 4 domains: politics, online manipulation, news and education. What has been achieved? Eva de Valk interviewed the project leaders, which resulted in the article series below. Curious about the lessons learned? Read the final article of the series here.

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Politics: use of platforms for political purposes

  • Instagram's political impact

    Instagram is an increasingly popular medium for politicians and political parties. However, little is known about the political strategies used on Instagram, or about what types of post are rewarded by the algorithm. AlgorithmWatch developed a plugin to research the Instagram algorithm (Project: Towards a Monitoring of Instagram). Read more

  • What do political parties do with your data and what can you do about it? All around the world, political parties are using citizens' data for political purposes. But what, exactly, is the situation in the Netherlands? Tactical Tech has been doing research in seventeen countries, including the Netherlands. The findings have yielded the Digital Detox Kit, which enables users to protect themselves (Project: Personal Data for Political Purposes: How does it work, what can you do?). Read more

  • Discover who's targeting you with political ads on Facebook Who sees which political adverts on Facebook, and why? A plugin created by British organisation Who Targets Me tells you about the ads you're seeing yourself while also supporting research into political targeting (Project: Who Targets Me?: Who’s using Facebook ads to win your vote – and how are they doing it?). Read more

Online manipulation and hate: insights & tools

  • Five forms of manipulation by YouTube, Facebook and Instagram Most people recognise that online platforms aren't simply neutral channels of communication. But what forms of manipulation are taking place, and what are their implications? Digital citizens' rights organisation Bits of Freedom aims to make it plain how YouTube, Facebook and Instagram are influencing us individually and as a society (Project: Short Manipulation Course). Read more

  • Online intimidation of activists is organised Anyone who tries to change society can expect to encounter resistance. However, activists also face online hate, which goes well beyond straightforward opposition. Trolling campaigns have serious psychological implications for the targets, as well as threatening healthy public debate. DeGoedeZaak is therefore studying the strategies used by trolls and identifying ways that social change leaders can protect themselves (Project: More power to you! How social influencers can face down hate). Read more

News: more diversity and influence on algorithms

  • More influence on your recommendations? Avatars give news algorithms a face News consumers have very little control over what articles are recommended by platforms' algorithms. Now researchers at KU Leuven believe recommendation avatars have the potential to change that by enabling active and informed filter management. After gathering data through workshops and interviews with news consumers, the team has defined three optimised recommendation avatars: the Expert, the Challenger and the Relaxer (Project: Who would you like to be guided by? Making the case for algorithmic recommender personae. Read more

  • Making news recommendations measurably more diverse with diversity toolkit What news articles do you get to see online, and what effect does the selection have on your world view? Many suggestion algorithms work on the basis of what you've shown an interest in before, which can lead to filter bubbles, narrow information flows and social division. The University of Amsterdam (UvA) has therefore developed a diversity toolkit, which can make news recommendations measurably more diverse (Project: Algorithms for freedom of expression and a well-informed public). Read more

Education: children in the digital society

  • Escape your bubble: Vox Pop Academy promotes mature online debate How often do you really talk to anyone who looks at the world a different way? Vox Pop Academy is a secure online environment that makes it easy for young people with contrasting views to discuss issues anonymously. Following a pilot in three vocational colleges, the Academy is being scaled up for nationwide use (Project: Vox Pop Academy MBO pilot). Read more

  • Creative lessons in artificial intelligence, data and democracy Children today live in a world where artificial intelligence plays an increasingly influential role. But how does artificial intelligence actually work? And what are the implications for society? SkillsDojo develops active, creative and programming projects that introduce youngsters to artificial intelligence and prompt them to think about its effects (Project: Lesson Series on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, Data and Democracy). Read more

Illustrations: NepWerk