TK publishes essay on democratic computing

2024/09/20

A recent article by Prof. Mühlhäuser and further current and former TK members addresses the vision of democratic computing.

It starts with the following observation: “The Internet fosters democratic principles, bringing information, services, and social contacts to everyone’s fingertips. Conversely, rampant monopolization, exploitation, and manipulation trends cause doubts about the democratization effects …” The article then provides an initial vision of a number of publicly governed core services and meta-services atop of which democratic (equal-opportunity, socially and ethically acceptable) user-facing services can be easily built and provided. The authors would hope to fuel discussions and efforts that take up this idea in order to arm the free democratic world with a democracy-friendly digital world against the attacks of autocratic and subversive powers. The article is available from Springer (opens in new tab).