Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life

AI Governance & Democracy: A Statement of Principles and Transatlantic Research Goals - The Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP) This initiative demonstrates ongoing academic cooperation between U.S. and European institutions, even as formal governmental dialogues have faced recent setbacks. The framework provides a roadmap for...

Their work comes at a crucial moment as technology companies advance competing visions of AI development that may conflict with democratic values.

Read the full report: citap.unc.edu/publications...

Key components include:
✨Shared democratic principles for AI governance
✨Commitment to human rights and social justice
✨Framework for balancing innovation with protective oversight
✨Environmental and workforce considerations
✨Proposed research goals across five critical areas

The statement outlines key principles and research priorities for ensuring AI development serves democratic values. The framework bridges U.S. innovation strengths with EU human rights protections, offering a unified approach to pressing challenges in AI oversight.

“AI technologies are not inevitable… their development and widespread use are subject to democratic governance.”

We’ve released a new joint report from UNC + @unituebingen.bsky.social: "AI Governance & Democracy: A Statement of Principles and Transatlantic Research Goals".

🚨TODAY!🚨 We'll see you all soon!

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Want to learn more? Tune in to KGI’s upcoming webinar on March 25th at 11am about how to fix the feeds 😊 Report authors will explain how algorithms are currently designed and how the report guidelines can make them better. Register now! 👇

bit.ly/4bBbraR

Now is the time to work on that narrative.

Now is the time to reinvest in your relationships with your colleagues, students, universities, and the academic fields you are a part of to steel them for what's ahead.

Now is the time to fight for your universities.

While there are no clear answers, drawing on his experiences in Hungary, Kristóf Szombati told CITAP and the Knight Research Network in December how important it is for researchers to craft a public narrative about the public value of institutions of higher learning and freedom of inquiry.

Resisting Attacks on Academic Freedom and Inquiry How power, politics, and fear are undermining the heart of higher education.

"No institution wins if the sector is demoralized, defunded and delegitimized."

Read our full newsletter on the current attack on academic freedom here 👇

As Tressie McMillan Cottom said in a recent @nytimes.com conversation, "Our current crisis is an amalgamation of two tensions: We want the elitism of prestigious universities and yet we do not want them to have any control of our culture or status."

If we allow our universities to be gutted, we risk losing one of democracy’s fundamental pillars – the cultivation of knowledge, critical inquiry, and informed citizenship that sustain a free society.

American higher education now faces a perfect storm of demoralization, defunding, and delegitimization​. These attacks are not random or isolated; they follow a classic authoritarian playbook, and go beyond ordinary policy disagreements and have become an existential threat to the academic sector.

Lunch will be provided, along with some other fun items (📘👀), so RSVP to secure your spot now!

forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...

Dr. Sherri M. Williams is the author of "Black Social Television: How Black Twitter Changed Television", highlighting how Black audiences shape media industries.

Dr. Meredith D. Clark is the author of "We Tried to Tell Y’all: Black Twitter & Black Digital Resistance", exploring how Black Twitter amplifies marginalized voices and disrupts erasure.

Dr. Meredith D. Clark & Dr. Sherri M. Williams will explore how Black digital communities have transformed TV, influenced representation, and challenged media gatekeepers.

Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with two leading scholars on Black digital activism!

Join us for "Black Twitter: Talking Back and Transforming Television", a conversation on digital activism, media, and culture with Meredith D. Clark and Sherri M. Williams:
✬ March 26
✬ 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
✬ Halls of Fame, Carroll Hall
✬ Lunch provided
🔗 RSVP here: forms.office.com/r/j7cFNhTWRC

The Eternal Flame

Ecstatic to announce I'll join the University of North Dakota this fall as an Assistant Professor of Sociology! Honored to be a part of a close-knit community of dedicated faculty and students and to represent the Eternal Flame—persevering through adversity to make a tangible impact for the better.

A screenshot of the start of the paper "WikiReddit: Tracing Information and Attention Flows Between Online Platforms"

📄 Excited to share a new dataset preprint!
WikiReddit: Tracing Information and Attention Flows Between Online Platforms
A collaboration with @beeeeeers.bsky.social, Viviane Ito, Agustin Orozco, and @ftripodi.bsky.social at @citap.bsky.social .

"We Tried to Tell Y’All: Black Twitter and the Rise of Digital Counternarratives" by Meredith Clark – exploring how Black social media users have built a vital space for resistance, storytelling, and cultural commentary.

The latest @pewresearch.org & Knight report reveals that almost 1 in 5 U.S. adults regularly get their news from influencers on social media. Sign up to join news influencers and social media experts on 2/16 to discuss the rapidly changing news landscape: kf.org/4aGa9e9.

This is one last (unplanned) result of my Fulbright fellowship at CITAP. If you feel like reading a thorough analysis of how authoritarian tendencies overcome our democracies and what the US can learn from Central and Eastern Europe, click below
(featuring among others, @ivan-kalmar.bsky.social)

"There is no more powerful political tool than occupying the high ground of popular culture." Authoritarianism thrives by shaping narratives—resisting it starts with understanding how those narratives are built.

Read, reflect, and share this tool broadly.

🔗Link in bio

III. The War on Gender in Authoritarian Politics
Gender & identity politics are central to right-wing mobilization. This section unpacks how the Right weaponizes gender to fuel nationalism, suppress dissent, & shape political discourse.

II. Authoritarian Politics in Everyday Life
How does authoritarianism embed itself into institutions & daily experiences? This section explores the economic, political, & cultural forces that sustain authoritarian rule—and how they adapt globally.

What’s inside?👇
I. Learning from the Past
This section covers books & essays on the totalitarian regimes of the Soviet Bloc before 1989 & their aftermath. What happens when a society transitions away from authoritarian rule? What lessons can we learn today?

Authoritarianism isn’t just a regional issue—it’s a global phenomenon. This guide explores how authoritarian politics take root, drawing on lessons from Central & Eastern Europe.

Understanding these patterns can help us resist them elsewhere.

CITAP, in collaboration with Marie Heřmanová (@mariher.bsky.social) & Kristóf Szombati, presents a very timely and important reading list:

"Authoritarian Politics: How to Understand It and How to Resist It." ...🧵

citap.unc.edu/wp-content/u...

Democracy in Crisis, Digital Platforms, and Leadership Redefined From South Korea's unrest to Kamala Harris’ campaign, GLP-1 medications, and social media’s impact—CITAP researchers tackle today’s key challenges.

In today's newsletter:

-South Korea’s fight and lessons for global democracy from @heesoojang.bsky.social
-Kamala Harris’ campaign and its impact on future leadership
-The rise of GLP-1 medications and their implications
-The role of social media in shaping online interactions and digital trust

South Korea Is Fighting for Democracy Again—And the World Needs to Know Last updated December 3, 10:09 AM South Korea Is Fighting for Democracy Again—And the World Needs to Know Heesoo Jang Assistant Professor of Media Law and Ethics Journalism Department, University of...

I was preparing to pitch an op-ed on the nationwide protests calling for President Yoon's resignation, aiming to provide global context amid the limited international coverage.

Given the urgency, I’m sharing it now. I didn’t expect events to escalate this quickly. #SouthKorea #Democracy