The 2026 midterms have shifted the balance of power in Washington. Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, and the tech industry’s influence over the US government may be weakening. Some observers believe that a delayed backlash against social media and growing concerns about AI contributed to these developments. Yet democracy in the United States still faces underlying problems. Partisan division remains stark. Faith that citizens share a common set of facts keeps eroding. Political violence is on the rise. Research confirms that social media not only intensifies all of these challenges to democracy but can also facilitate political intimidation and violence. In this discussion, we bring a US expert on social media, media, and tech together with a German professor focusing on online hate and violence to assess some of the troubling aspects of politics in our digital era. We ask how constant online hostility changes the way citizens see each other and democracy. And we will explore what needs to change to make our digital societies more supportive of democracy.
Paul M. Barrett is a journalist, adjunct professor at the New York University School of Law, and former deputy director of the Center for Business and Human Rights at NYU Stern School of Business. He has written extensively about the role and responsibilities of the social media industry in a democracy, as well as the risks associated with artificial intelligence. At the center, he co-authored the reports “How Social Media Facilitates Political Intimidation and Violence” and “How Social Media Intensifies Political Polarization.”
Prof. Gülay Çağlar is a SCRIPTS professor and professor of gender and intersectionality studies at Freie Universität Berlin. She is leading a new project, “Caught in the Crossfire,” that examines political cyberviolence and how democratic institutions respond to it. Its focus includes digital violence against politicians, its effects on political participation, how institutions deal with such attacks, and how democratic resilience can be strengthened.
Moderator:
Rachel Tausendfreund, Senior Research Fellow for USA/Transatlantic Relations, DGAP
If you would like to attend the event in person, please send your request to events@dgap.org.
If you are unable to join us on site, you are welcome to watch the livestream here.
This discussion is part of the event series Remaking America? Contesting Visions from Trump and Beyond, a cooperation between DGAP and the Cluster of Excellence “Contestations of the Liberal Script” (SCRIPTS) at Freie Universität Berlin. The series features leading thinkers, scholars, and policy voices from the United States who assess the emerging ideas and factions reshaping American democracy and foreign policy and their consequences for Germany and Europe.