ETHICS AND POLITICS IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Academic Year 2024/2025 - Teacher: NUNZIO ALI'

Expected Learning Outcomes

Students will learn to use seocial media with a higher degree of awareness, to see the coneection between freedom and privacy and between privacy and democracy. They will learn the tecniques adopted by economic and political entrapreneurs for their campaigns and they will have the chance to reflect on the difficul balance between freedom of expressio (on social media and elsewhere) and other rights.

Course Structure

The course is based on lectures and presentations by the students on a topic agreed upon with the instructor among those listed in the program

Required Prerequisites

Reading knowlegde of English. Basic knowledge of political theory

Attendance of Lessons

Not mandatory but highly recommended.

Detailed Course Content

The course analyzes how internet is redefining contemporary democracy focusing in particular on the recent phenomena of public opinion conditioning, on the decline of intermediate bodies with the related marginalization of experts, on the info-wars waged by organized groups and at times autocratic foreign governments, on freedom of expression in the social media and on who should set its limits (if any).

Textbook Information

Floridi, Luciano. Etica dell’intelligenza artificiale. Sviluppi, Opportunità, Sfide. Raffello Cortina Editore. 2022.

Zuboff, Shoshana. Il capitalismo della sorveglianza. Il futuro dell'umanità nell'era dei nuovi poteri. Luiss University Press. 2023.

Cass Sunstein, #Republic.com. La democrazia nell'epoca dei social media, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2017.

Jamie Bartlett, The People Vs Tech. How the Internet is killing democracy (and how we save it). London: Penguin 2018.

Martin Moore, Democracy Hacked: Political Turmoil and Information Warfare in the Digital Era. London: OneWorld 2018.

G. Pondrano Altavilla, A. Scala “Ripensare i fondamenti della liberal-democrazia nell’era di internet” Micromega ottobre 2018

Lehdonvirta, V. Cloud Empires. Come le piattaforme digitali stanno superando gli Stati e come possiamo riprendere il controllo, Einaudi 2023.

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

Assessment will take place by looking at four aspects of students’ performance: 1) Participation in class, 2) Presentation, 3) Finalpaper, 4) Final exam Grade Weights: Participation in class: 33.3% Presentation: 33.3% Final exam: 33.3% For those who cannotattend class, hence participare and present, mark will depend entirely on the oral exam.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

1. What is usually meant by 'polarization'?

2. What are the cybercascades?

3. What does Sunstein mean by denying the identification between civic and political freedom in a liberal democracy and consumers' freedom?

4. What is a state-sponsored hacking?

Degree Course in

Sociology of networks, information and innovation