Stephanie Burnett had this article in German media company Deutsche Welle. Here is an excerpt:

When democratic principles are chipped away, what does it look like? Whether it’s the apparent hijacking of a plane to detain a critical journalist or arresting opposition leaders, the disruption of democracy is consequential and often punitive. So as technology and the media evolve, particularly in the digital age, such a powerful platform also has its vulnerabilities. 

Timothy Snyder, a history professor at Yale University and best-selling author, spoke Tuesday about disruptive democracies and the media at DW’s Global Media Forum and opened with a historical note. “It’s always the case that new media caused tremendous disruptions. The media that we think of as calming and relaxing and democratic — like the book or like the newspaper — took decades or centuries to create. The printing press when it was invented, led to 150 years of religious war,” said Snyder, who spoke via video link from Austria.

“So the historical point is that new media takes time to shape and that we as humans have the ability and the right to shape them. The internet, in other words, doesn’t have to be the way that it is now. It will take some other form and that form depends upon us.”

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