Religion, marginalisation and radicalisation

This contribution was delivered on the occasion of the EUI State of the Union in Florence on 6 May 2016

Tackling disinformation and strengthening election integrity to support democracy

This contribution was delivered on the occasion of the EUI State of the Union in Florence on 03 May 2019Digital technologies are increasingly part of democratic processes. From online campaigning to informing public debate, technology is becoming an integral part of elections and political campaigns. At the same time, election environments are increasingly vulnerable to cyber-enabled interference and disinformation campaigns. With the European elections around the corner, it is urgent to step up efforts to secure free and fair democratic processes, as advocated in the report of the High-Level Expert Group on fake news, the European Commission Communication on online disinformation, the Commission Action Plan on disinformation and the Communication on Securing Free and Fair Elections. This panel takes stock of the measures that have been adopted at the European level, as well as of best practices that are being developed globally in cooperation with industry. The toolkit includes the Disinformation Code of Practice, the European network of independent fact-checkers, the European Election Cooperation Network, the Rapid Alert System, industry-led security and disinformation workshops, and other efforts towards increasing digital media literacy. Have we done enough? Is more, or other, action needed? Is cybersecurity being sufficiently embedded into election resilience? What role can independent regulatory authorities and technology actors play? Are there, apart from the positive, also negative effects to the actions that have been taken

Gender inequality and inter-household economic inequality in emerging economies: exploring the relationship

While most emerging economies have been characterised by persistence/growth of inter- household economic inequality in recent decades, and simultaneous poor performance on gender equality, the intersecting relationship between these two trends so far has not received much attention. This article is an initial attempt look at this relationship, showing how gender inequality has both contributed to, and been affected by, growing economic inequality. It focuses on eight emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Mexico, Indonesia, and Turkey (dubbed the BRICSAMIT countries). The article analyses Gini coefficient trends and Global Gender Gap Index trends, and draws in addition on insights gained from seven exploratory interviews with Oxfam colleagues and partners working on women’s rights in the considered countries. It concludes with a reflection on the possible future policy agenda that would allow one to simultaneously address the issues of gender inequality and economic inequality in the analysed countries