PREVIOUS EVENTS

  • Mon
    31
    Jan
    2011
    Damian Tambini from the London School of Economics

    Moveable type and mechanized printing led to an explosion of free expression which was key to the emergence of modern democracies. Many claim that the historical impact of the Internet will lead to the inevitable undermining of authoritarian regimes and the spread of democracy round the globe. But is this true? Or could democratic governments working with private companies be perfecting a new form of authoritarianism, working with the grain of Internet communication and exploiting the intimate entwining of online communication with the everyday lives of citizens? Is privacy now at risk, or is it censorship that is at risk, now that Wikileaks are online? How should we approach the Internet? What do we know and what dont we know?