Polluting the Political Discourse

Modern deliberative democracies are built to ensure pluralism in the political discourse so that citizens are able to express informed preferences when taking part in public policymaking by electing their representatives. The fairness of political processes is threatened in the digital environment by the resort to micro-targeting techniques and the spread of disinformation campaigns, which may poison the authenticity of public debate and influence the orientation of public opinion on policy issues. Assessing the role of digital intermediaries in these dynamics is therefore critical for European countries and EU institutions in order to ensure the survival of the paradigm of pluralistic democracy. The trade-offs between State regulation of freedom of expression online, platforms’ accountability and self-regulation make it compelling to analyse whether EU policy choices are adequate to confront phenomena undermining democratic processes.