We thought the internet would strengthen democracy. Instead, it has become the most effective tool ever for undermining popular rule – without us noticing, because we are each busy with our own phone. Digitalisation has not only changed how we communicate; it is changing the very foundations of an enlightened, independent and equal society.
Attention is being privatised
Political parties, newspapers and organisations used to compete for our time in a limited public space. Today, global technology companies compete for every single microsecond of our consciousness – and they are winning. The algorithms are designed to maximise engagement, not truth or understanding.
The result is that rational political debate drowns in rage, cat videos and conspiracy theories. We have an attention market where the highest bidder (read: the most extreme voice) wins. Public opinion is no longer shaped in Parliament or in the town square, but in California and Shenzhen.
"Democracy gives us the freedom to disagree about solutions – not about reality itself."
The public conversation is becoming fragmented
There is no longer one shared public sphere. We live in thousands of closed echo chambers where the algorithms feed us exactly what we already believe – only a little stronger. When friends, neighbours and colleagues never encounter the same news, facts or arguments, the basis for a shared understanding of reality disappears.
Figure 1: Algorithmic fragmentation of the public conversation.
Power is becoming invisible and unaccountable
Who really governs Norway in 2025? Is it Parliament? The Government? Or is it five or six global technology companies that decide which issues trend, which politicians get attention, and which voices are amplified or silenced?
These companies are elected by no one, can be held accountable by no one, and operate according to business models that reward division and polarisation. Yet they have greater power over the public conversation than the national broadcaster NRK ever had – without being subject to a single article of the Constitution.
Trust is eroding
Democracy rests on trust: trust in institutions, in the media, in each other. Digitalisation has created a trust vacuum. Deepfakes, bot accounts, coordinated disinformation campaigns and algorithmically amplified suspicion mean we no longer know what – or whom – we can believe.
When trust falls, the appeal of the strong leader who «speaks like ordinary people» and promises to clean up «the system» grows.
The politicians have abdicated
The most frightening thing is the silence from our elected representatives. While technology companies build infrastructure that reshapes society in real time, politicians are still discussing privacy as if it were only about protecting holiday photos on Facebook.
It does not happen with tanks in the streets, but with an update to the terms of service at 3 a.m. one night.