Democracy Under Pressure: A Civic Briefing

How is democracy being reshaped by the systems that now control how information flows? In this civic briefing, Cory Alpert and Amy Remeikis examine how media concentration, social platforms, algorithms and artificial intelligence are altering public debate and democratic accountability. Drawing on law, journalism and political analysis, they explore how agendas are set, how misinformation spreads, and why trust in institutions is eroding. Rather than a debate, this session offers a clear-eyed examination of how democratic systems are coping — and often failing — in a rapidly changing information environment, and what citizens should be paying attention to as these pressures intensify.