Hacker News with Generative AI: Democracy

Why Techdirt Is Now a Democracy Blog (Whether We Like It or Not) (techdirt.com)
While political reporters are still doing their view-from-nowhere “Democrats say this, Republicans say that” dance, tech and legal journalists have been watching an unfortunately recognizable plan unfold — a playbook we’re all too familiar with.
Technology, Politics, Journalism, Media, Democracy
54 points by erentz 2 days ago | 11 comments
Brazilians hail strength of democracy as Bolsonaro is called to account (theguardian.com)
Brazilian democrats have celebrated the strength of their country’s judiciary and institutions after the former president Jair Bolsonaro was left facing political oblivion and jail time for allegedly plotting a coup, in stark contrast to the US’s failure to bring Donald Trump to justice for his anti-democratic acts.
Politics, Brazil, Democracy, Law, United States
31 points by PaulHoule 4 days ago | 9 comments
The Death of Competition in American Elections (nytimes.com)
A vast majority of 2024 races for Congress and state legislatures were decided by low-turnout or meaningless primaries. The trend is making politics more polarized and eroding public trust.
Politics, Elections, United States, Democracy
20 points by whack 11 days ago | 20 comments
The Path to American Authoritarianism (foreignaffairs.com)
Donald Trump’s first election to the presidency in 2016 triggered an energetic defense of democracy from the American establishment. But his return to office has been met with striking indifference. Many of the politicians, pundits, media figures, and business leaders who viewed Trump as a threat to democracy eight years ago now treat those concerns as overblown—after all, democracy survived his first stint in office. In 2025, worrying about the fate of American democracy has become almost passé.
Politics, United States, Authoritarianism, Democracy
77 points by pjmlp 22 days ago | 37 comments
South Korea's Democracy Saved Itself (2024) (carnegieendowment.org)
South Korea, Democracy, Politics, International Relations
64 points by huijzer 42 days ago | 75 comments
Korean democracy was nearly toppled by its president. It was saved by its people (theguardian.com)
Despite scandal after scandal, Koreans have shown their solidarity with one another, and the resilience of their institutions
Politics, Korea, Democracy, Social Movements
13 points by huijzer 42 days ago | 2 comments
Right populists deliberately undermining democracy with misinformation (uva.nl)
The spread of misinformation has emerged as a major concern in recent years. While research has long examined misinformation as a phenomenon resulting from the rise of social media, a new study from the University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam now suggests that misinformation should be understood as the result of a political strategy pursued by radical-right populist parties. The research was published in the International Journal of Press/Politics.
Politics, Misinformation, Democracy, Social Media
9 points by nabla9 43 days ago | 0 comments
The Day Instagram Blocked Democracy (docpop.org)
On the day of Trump’s second presidential inauguration, Instagram censored search results for the most popular hashtags associated with American Democrats, like “#Democrat”, “#PresidentBiden”, “#VoteBlue”, “#MichelleObama”, “#Kamala”, and dozens more.
Social Media, Censorship, Politics, Democracy
127 points by klez 44 days ago | 75 comments
Big tech is picking apart European democracy (theguardian.com)
Elon Musk’s latest attempts at direct political interference illustrate the grave danger that Europe is facing. He has suggested overthrowing the UK government, asking if “America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government”. Three days after that, he hosted Germany’s far-right candidate for chancellor in forthcoming federal elections in a livestream discussion on the social media platform X, which he owns. It is likely that his rigging of X’s algorithm helped push both into millions of people’s feeds.
Politics, Europe, Social Media, Democracy, Technology
6 points by nickcotter 51 days ago | 2 comments
Meta is ushering in a 'world without facts', says Nobel peace prize winner (theguardian.com)
The Nobel peace prize winner Maria Ressa has said Meta’s decision to end factchecking on its platforms and remove restrictions on certain topics means “extremely dangerous times” lie ahead for journalism, democracy and social media users.
Meta, Social Media, Journalism, Democracy, Censorship
16 points by zfg 55 days ago | 15 comments
How Silicon Valley is disrupting democracy (technologyreview.com)
Two books explore the price we’ve paid in handing over unprecedented power to Big Tech—and explain why it’s imperative we start taking it back.
Politics, Technology, Big Tech, Democracy
43 points by clumsysmurf 80 days ago | 29 comments
How Silicon Valley is disrupting democracy (technologyreview.com)
Two books explore the price we’ve paid in handing over unprecedented power to Big Tech—and explain why it’s imperative we start taking it back.
Technology, Politics, Big Tech, Democracy
19 points by gnabgib 83 days ago | 5 comments
You Can Have Billionaires or You Can Have Democracy (2021) (jacobin.com)
The billionaire class isn’t just a group of people who happen to be superrich. It’s a dynastic oligarchy with a single overriding objective: controlling the government to protect its inherited wealth.
Politics, Wealth Inequality, Democracy
26 points by wahnfrieden 100 days ago | 16 comments
Hong Kong Jails Benny Tai for 10 Years in Longest Security Law Sentence (bloomberg.com)
A Hong Kong court sentenced former democracy advocate Benny Tai to 10 years in prison, the longest sentence ever meted out using a China-imposed security law, in a move likely to further deter dissent in the finance hub and worsen ties with Western governments.
Hong Kong, Politics, Law, China, Democracy
68 points by JumpCrisscross 108 days ago | 9 comments
The Dark, Unspoken Promise of Trump's Return (nytimes.com)
For those bewildered by why so many Americans apparently voted against the values of liberal democracy, Balint Magyar has a useful formulation. “Liberal democracy,” he says, “offers moral constraints without problem-solving” — a lot of rules, not a lot of change — while “populism offers problem-solving without moral constraints.”
Politics, United States, Trump, Democracy, Populism
4 points by whack 111 days ago | 0 comments
Journalism's fight for survival in a postliterate democracy (mattdpearce.substack.com)
The truth is going out of business as technology turns us into a folk-story society, ripe for influence by a demagogue.
Journalism, Democracy, Technology, Social Media, Influence
32 points by yurivish 113 days ago | 70 comments
Oligarchs now in full control of America? What does Hacker News think of this? (ycombinator.com)
The multi-millionaire and billionaire class have long put their thumbs on the scale of democracy through donations to the political class with the hope of gaining influence and shaping policy. But Tuesday's election outcome brings about a big shift that is different it seems to me from the past. US policy and democracy it seems to me has been handed directly to a small cast of characters led by Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Jeff Bejos and perhaps the Murdoch family.
Politics, Democracy, Wealth Inequality, Technology, Media
24 points by Sol2Sol 118 days ago | 28 comments
Historians Predicted the Failure of Democracy (2019) (nationalinterest.org)
At the dawn of democracy, Plato foresaw an unfortunate end.
History, Democracy, Political Philosophy
6 points by mfkhalil 119 days ago | 2 comments
Georgia Shows Why Ukraine Must Win (phillipspobrien.substack.com)
Well what we are witnessing in Georgia is both depressingly predictable and yet horrifying at the same time. A nation that wanted to be democratic, whose people saw their future in the West, in Europe, is having their freedom corrupted in front of their (and our) eyes. Its shows how fragile democratic systems can be in the face of unopposed brutality.
Georgia, Ukraine, Politics, Democracy, International Relations
10 points by JumpCrisscross 131 days ago | 0 comments
The Army of Election Officials Ready to Reject the Vote (nytimes.com)
A movement driven by disinformation about Trump’s 2020 defeat has taken over many of the boards that certify elections. It could cause chaos in the weeks ahead.
Elections, Politics, Misinformation, Disinformation, Democracy
18 points by ChrisArchitect 132 days ago | 3 comments
A new book shows how the power of companies is destabilizing governance (hai.stanford.edu)
In The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley, Marietje Schaake, a Stanford HAI Policy Fellow, reveals how tech companies are encroaching on governmental roles, posing a threat to the democratic rule of law.
Politics, Democracy, Technology, Silicon Valley
333 points by alexzeitler 135 days ago | 344 comments
"Switzerland is as deeply polarized as the USA" (news.uzh.ch)
In many democracies, those on the left and right of the political divide are drifting further apart. Political discourse is increasingly spiteful and hostile. Silja Häusermann and Simon Bornschier from the Department of Political Science at UZH explain why this is the case and whether it poses a threat to democracy.
Politics, Polarization, Democracy, Social Science
15 points by sharpshadow 157 days ago | 16 comments
Study: US is an oligarchy, not a democracy (2014) (bbc.com)
The US is dominated by a rich and powerful elite.
Politics, United States, Democracy, Oligarchy, Research
21 points by _tk_ 169 days ago | 26 comments
Stanford ECON295/CS323 I 2024 - AI and Democracy, Lawrence Lessig [video] (youtube.com)
Artificial Intelligence, Democracy, Education, Stanford, Video
9 points by mindcrime 175 days ago | 0 comments
It happened there: how democracy died in Hungary (vox.com)
A new kind of authoritarianism is taking root in Europe — and there are warning signs for America.
Politics, Hungary, Democracy, Authoritarianism, Europe
12 points by Anon84 176 days ago | 1 comments
Voters' Yearning for a Dictator Is a Danger to the Country (reason.com)
Politics, Democracy, Social Commentary
16 points by seydor 182 days ago | 19 comments
Elon Musk supports replacing democracy with government of high-status males (independent.co.uk)
Elon Musk, Politics, Democracy, Gender
24 points by isaacfrond 185 days ago | 22 comments
We can have democracy or we can have Facebook, but we can't have both (2020) (the.ink)
Social Media, Politics, Technology, Democracy
5 points by colinprince 187 days ago | 1 comments
Why Democracy Is Mathematically Impossible [video] (youtube.com)
Democracy, Political Science, Mathematics, Video
24 points by redbell 188 days ago | 12 comments
What opposition to delivery drones shows about big tech disrespect for democracy (theguardian.com)
Technology, Politics, Democracy, Delivery Drones
4 points by cpeterso 205 days ago | 0 comments