Past Events
Digital Democracy and Digital Sovereignty
Digital Democracy and Digital Sovereignty: How China, Russia, Europe, and the United States are Forging a Fractured, New, Digital Ecosystem
Presented by the College of Arts & Sciences and the Judy Genshaft Honors College.
About the Event
Through the first 30 years of the development of the internet, we were promised a
global “network of networks” that would offer free speech, democratic empowerment,
and the spread of democracy. Leaders from Ronald Reagan to Margaret Thatcher to Barack
Obama all promised that technology would unite and enlighten the world. Somehow it
all went wrong.
In this talk, Professor Siva Vaidhyanathan will explain the idea of “digital sovereignty,”
the ways that a nation creates and enforces its own sense of what should be allowed
and watched on digital networks.
There are many models of “digital sovereignty,” each offering a distinct set of value
and opportunities, as well as methods of oppression. This talk will focus on how the
Russian invasion of Ukraine exposes the dangers and necessities of digital sovereignty.
DATE, TIME AND LOCATION
September 28, 2023 | 6:00PM – 7:30PM
University of South Florida
Judy Genshaft Honors College
12260 USF Genshaft Drive
Tampa, FL 33620
Registration
Registration is encouraged and not mandatory.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Siva Vaidhyanathan
Siva Vaidhyanathan
Siva Vaidhyanathan is the Robertson Professor of Media Studies and director of the
Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia.
Vaidhyanathan is a columnist for The Guardian and has written for many other periodicals,
including The New York Times, Wired, Bloomberg View, American Scholar, Reason, Dissent,
The Chronicle of Higher Education, The New York Times Magazine, Slate.com, BookForum,
Columbia Journalism Review, Washington Post, The Virginia Quarterly Review, The New
York Times Book Review, and The Nation. He is a frequent contributor to public radio
programs.
He has appeared on news programs on BBC, CNN, NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, ABC, and on The Daily
Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central. In 2015 he was portrayed on stage at the
Public Theater in a play called Privacy. After five years as a professional journalist,
he earned a PhD in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. He was
born and raised in Buffalo, New York, and resides in Charlottesville, Virginia.
He is the author of “Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines
Democracy” (2018), “Intellectual Property: A Very Short Introduction” (2017), “The
Googlization of Everything -- and Why We Should Worry” (2011), “Copyrights and Copywrongs:
The Rise of Intellectual Property and How it Threatens Creativity” (2001), and “The
Anarchist in the Library: How the Clash between Freedom and Control is Hacking the
Real World and Crashing the System” (2004). He also co-edited (with Carolyn Thomas)
the collection, “Rewiring the Nation: The Place of Technology in American Studies” (2007).
IMPORTANT FOR STUDENTS
Attendance at this event fulfills an opportunity for rigorous debate as mandated by the State of Florida Civics Literacy graduation requirement. Some students who transfer from other institutions are able to supplement their transfer coursework to meet graduation requirements by participating. Proof of attendance that includes a photo at the event is necessary to receive the credit.
PARKING
Parking is available in Lots 22D and 22E by the Yuengling Center. Additional parking is located in Lot 41. For more information about campus parking, please visit the Parking Services website.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE EVENT?
For more information or to request reasonable accommodations, please contact CAS RSVP.