Speaker

2018 - People vs Tech - How the internet is killing democracy (and how we save it)

Jamie Bartlett is an exciting British writer and journalist and one of the world’s leading thinkers on how radical thinking, technology and culture intersect. He was one of the first journalists to report on the workings and potential impact Cambridge Analytica was having on the US election and more recently presented BBC’s documentary ‘Secrets of Silicon Valley’

Having spoken in the past at OffGrid, Jamie is back in 2018 to talk about his latest work ‘People vs Tech’ and the impact (and potential threats) technology is having on our political systems. Jamie will look at how our fragile political system is being threatened by the digital revolution, explaining that by upholding six key pillars of democracy, we can save it before it is too late. We need to become active citizens; uphold a shared democratic culture; protect free elections; promote equality; safeguard competitive and civic freedoms; and trust in a sovereign authority. He will argue that the stakes couldn’t be higher and that, unless we radically alter our course, democracy will join feudalism, supreme monarchies and communism as just another political experiment that quietly disappeared.