This policy brief provides concrete steps to strengthen MIL as part of societal security and the promotion of democracy.

In March DECA hosted two events where Professor Robin Mansell presented a new global report by the Observatory on Information and Democracy (OID) that provides a meta-analysis of how information ecosystems function. Here you will find a summary of these events outlining the key findings of the report and aspects highlighted by professor Mansell.

Despite significant regulatory efforts, the EU has struggled to prevent foreign interference and propaganda. The solution? A decentralized platform for European news in all languages. In his blog, Matthias Pfeffer states that this is already technically possible but political will is needed to make this happen.

What are five things everyone should understand about polarisation? DECA researchers Ali Salloum and Arttu Malkamäki answer this question in a press release from Aalto University.

The International Observatory on Information and Democracy (OID) published its first global “information climate” report, providing a critical assessment of the role of information ecosystems in the Global North and Global Majority World. In this one-day seminar, we have an opportunity to hear about the report's key insights from the editor, Professor Robin Mansell (London School of Economics, Professor Emerita) and after that, will hear from six scholars about their research and their reflections on the report.

NORDIS Digital Information Literacy Forum aims to inspire educators, researchers, and policymakers to embrace the potential of AI while cultivating critical thinking and ethical awareness in the next generation of learners.

A two-part podcast series on the topics discussed at the Epistemic Challenges and Democratic Accountability in European Media Conference have now been published on DECA's SoundCloud page.

Registration is now open for the Epistemic Challenges and Democratic Accountability in European Media conference, taking place on 24-25 October 2024 at the University of Helsinki.

In her blog post Karina Adamusik explores the complexities of language choices for Ukrainians in Finland and elsewhere and how these decisions reflect their evolving sense of self and integration into Finnish society.

This engaging event, co-organised by the DECA project is part of the Social Psychology Days at University of Helsinki, and it's designed to illuminate the rich epistemic layers underlying various societal problems and research areas in social psychology.

DECA’s Hannu Nieminen, Minna Horowitz, Reeta Pöyhtäri, Katja Lehtisaari, and Riku Neuvonen are among the writers of the new book entitled The Future of the Nordic Media Model: A Digital Media Welfare State? that delves into the intricacies of the Nordic media landscape.

AI is everywhere and has been working quite successfully for a while. In this blog, Hannu Nieminen, Kirsi Hantula and Minna Horowitz discusses Ai development from the viewpoint of epistemic rights. They state that ensuring epistemic rights is only effective with sufficient AI literacy and, relatedly, people’s opportunities to decide what kind of AI they want.

In this webinar, we introduce selected key themes and approaches of a new, open-access book ‘Epistemic Rights in the Era of Digital Disruption (Palgrave MacMillan, IAMCR book series).

The course offers tools and new perspectives on digital information literacy. In this article, that was originally published on the webpage of DECA's partner Faktabaari, three researchers give their less-discussed angles.

Our visiting professor Eugenia Siapera will hold a guest lecture titled “The Extreme Public Sphere: Political and Regulatory Dilemmas” as part of The New Research Culture lecture series organized by Helsinki Institute for Social Sciences and Humanities.

Epistemic Challenges and Democratic Accountability in European Media Conference takes place 24-25 October 2024 at the University of Helsinki. The deadline for submissions of abstracts is April 12, 2024.

Knowledge-producing epistemic institutions and authorities across Western countries have faced a mounting attack that aims to undermine citizens’ trust in them. Why is this happening now? In this blog Marko Ampuja of DECA reflects in the Finnish context the reasons why epistemic institutions have been subjected to increasing political contestation and external pressures on many fronts.

The podcast episode focuses on trust in the media, fake news, and future prospects of the Finnish media, and it is freely available on Spotify.

The two-day conference seeks to address the relations between knowledge production, technologies and inequalities in a datafied and polarised communication landscape.

This open-access volume argues that in a functioning democracy, citizens should be equally capable of making informed choices about matters of social importance. The volume is edited by Minna Horowitz, Hannu Nieminen, Katja Lehtisaari and Alessandro D’Arma.

Hanaholmen’s annual Nordic Democracy Day focused on the current challenges concerning freedom of expression and democracy. The presenters included the editors-in-chief of four large Nordic newspapers and the Chair of the Nordic think tank for tech and democracy. DECA’s representative Minna Horowitz reported on the Nordic audience survey, a study conducted together with the NORDIS media observatory and co-funded by the C.V. Åkerlund Media Foundation.

DECA co-organizes a webinar based on the edited volume, Public Service Media's Contribution to Society: RIPE@2021, together with IAPMR and Nordicom, 27 November. Registration is now opened.

DECA will participate Nordic Democracy Day that will be held December 1st at Hanaholmen. DECA's researcher Minna Horowitz will give a presentation on What do citizens trust in the Nordics? Facts from an ongoing NORDIS/DECA research-project.

DECA research project and Tampere University Public Law are organizing a one-day conference. The theme is Platforms, media and public service. The speakers are Professor Andrew Kenyon, Matthias Kettemann, Henna Virkkunen and Hannu Nieminen. Register for the event by 3 October

A public forum to discuss the effects of the proposed immigration laws in the government programme on the rights of diverse migrant groups in Finland was organized August 25 at the Oodi Library in Helsinki. DECA's Minna Horowitz participated the event and prepared a summary report on it.

What are the values of TikTok? If TikTok doesn’t fit the ‘American values,’ where can it fit? With these questions in mind Yang Xu, a doctoral student in Social Sciences, looked into TikTok’s official discourses (policy documents, press releases, and user guides) over the years with the following research question: What values have TikTok articulated in its official discourses?

In the new podcast episode DECA’s co-director professor Risto Kunelius discusses the history of and recent developments in the research of propaganda.

What are epistemic rights and why do we need them? DECA’s researchers discussing the theme in the new podcast series.

ActNow!, a network to innovate for a pan-European, independent, and non-commercial platform met at the University of Vienna in June 2023 to discuss opportunities and future collaborations. While the global tech giants' impact is evident, there is an urgent need to envision alternatives to foster democracy, social cohesion, and citizenship.

DECA researchers contributed to the European Dialogue on Internet Governance EuroDIG organized in Tampere and online, 19-21 June 2023. The conference theme is “Internet in troubled times: risks, resilience, hope”.

DECA has a channel on SoundCloud that is filled with interesting podcasts on project's themes.

In collaboration with DECA and EDMO Nordis -consortium Faktabaari has produced two videos on digital information literacy.

A Bachelor-level course on Disinformation and Digital Information Literacy (DIL) has been piloted at the University of Helsinki during the Spring semester 2023. DECA’s Minna Aslama is one of the designers and teachers of the course.

The the Nordic countries should be at the forefront of demanding and implementing democratic and transparent principles regarding how tech giants can influence societies and democracies – both in the Nordics, Europe, and globally.