The Digital Society: Interdisciplinary Digitization Research on the Question of Strengthening and Preserving Democracy in the Digital Society

Debates about digitalization and democracy have always been controversial and range from optimistic views to sceptic or even dystopian perspectives. The former emphasize the potential of the internet to drive innovation in society and to enhance democracy. In contrast, skeptical views highlight the risks and even threats of digitalization. This finds expression in aspects such as the growing relevance of fake news online. Algorithmic filtering promotes visibility of polarizing content. Furthermore, social media can no longer be seen as neutral gathering places for public discourse. All of this makes it necessary to further research the role of digitization with regard to strengthening and preserving democracy. This open access book brings together the results of a five-year interdisciplinary research project on digital transformation in society.

Dr. Mario Anastasiadis is a researcher at Bonn University of Applied Sciences. Before that, he was managing director and scientific coordinator of the Research Association NRW Digital Society at the University of Bonn.

Dr. Yannik Peters is a researcher in the Computational Social Science and Data Services for the Social Sciences departments at GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. Previously, he was a research associate at the Research Association NRW Digital Society.

Prof. Dr. Caja Thimm is professor of Media Studies and Intermediality at the Institute of Linguistics, Media, and Musicology at the University of Bonn. She previously served as spokesperson for the Research Association NRW Digital Society.