Hacking democracy: abusing the Internet for political gain

Abstract

Democracy is a fragile process and many people are becoming worried that it is not sufficiently robust to withstand the seemingly lawless free-for-all unleashed by the Internet. The 2016 US presidential election and the UK's Brexit referendum have only ramped up the fear that the Internet has provided a powerful tool for those who would seek to gain advantage in public discourse and the struggle for political power. In this interview, Oliver Tavakoli of Vectra explains that many concerns are well-founded, some are unproven and that we still haven't fully explored the dangers – and the opportunities – that the Internet represents in our democratic processes.