Panel discusses building a more democratic and resilient information environment

This week, Issue One hosted a panel to dig deeper into our most recent report, “Flooding the Gap: How Big Tech’s Failures Empowered Foreign Adversaries and Undermined the 2024 U.S. Election.” The report explores how design flaws and operational failures in American social media platforms allowed foreign adversaries to exploit the 2024 election. By leveraging a broken information ecosystem, adversaries sought to divide Americans, undermine democracy, and threaten national security. The report’s findings emphasize the urgent need for systemic reforms, outlining strategies to create an information environment that supports democracy rather than eroding it.

 

The panel featured experts with deep knowledge of both tech accountability and democracy reform. Ellen Jacobs, digital policy manager at the Institute of Strategic Dialogue, focuses on mitigating online harms like disinformation and extremism while advancing platform accountability initiatives. Drawing on her global expertise, Jacobs highlighted successful European regulatory approaches, particularly the EU’s Digital Services Act. “Creating communication channels alongside the Digital Services Act and other transparency initiatives was incredibly helpful to watch,” she said, advocating for similar U.S. frameworks.

Nora Benavidez, senior counsel at Free Press and a renowned civil rights and free speech attorney, emphasized the human cost of platforms’ profit-driven designs and their abdication of responsibility. She criticized the rollback of policies enacted under public pressure after 2020, stating, “These were written black-and-white promises to users.” Benavidez warned of the overreliance on generative AI in content moderation: “Humans develop these tools, and humans make mistakes. The next north star is figuring out the structures needed to keep humans in the loop.”

Jamie Neikrie, legislative manager for Technology Reform at Issue One and coauthor of the new report, stressed the urgent need for structural changes in platform design. “It starts at the design level,” he said. “The business model of social media is about engagement. Shifting away from that model is crucial to disrupting the spread of conspiracy theories and foreign propaganda.” Neikrie also pointed to bipartisan tech reform efforts, lamenting how lobbying and partisan chilling campaigns have stalled progress on these efforts.

The panel addressed a range of issues and questions, from how the U.S. can adopt successful international regulatory approaches to how structural changes in platform design could counter foreign influence. Jacobs emphasized the need for immediate safeguards to address the rise of AI-driven misinformation, while Neikrie outlined a vision for a healthier information ecosystem that prioritizes truth and accountability.

The discussion underscored the pressing need for systemic reform, concluding with a call to action. As Benavidez noted, “The problems in tech will not be solved by more tech.” The event left attendees with a clear sense of the challenges ahead and the steps necessary to build a more democratic and resilient information environment before the next election.

Missed the panel? Watch the recording!