The emerging global challenge of data authoritarianism

With the rise of digital economies and digital innovations, issues surrounding data are becoming increasingly important in public debates around the world. While new challenges have emerged regarding data misuses in the past years, the political, legal and multilateral responses have been lagging, partly due to the complexity of these new phenomena. Examples of use and misuse of power abound, ranging from new forms of digital repression, surveillance and propaganda, to small- and large-scale disinformation, not to mention foreign interference in national elections and politics at large. Against this backdrop, this year’s Megatrends lecture, jointly organized by CASSIS Bonn, EADI and IDOS/Megatrends Afrika, investigates the central links between the growing digitalisation of the economy and the rising threats to public, civil and political freedom.