Social media and comment forums on news platforms have become an important part of today’s civic public sphere. They enable exchange between people that otherwise only have few points of contact. In principle, online discussions can enrich our democracy by bringing together different viewpoints, opinions and relevant information in a digital town square that is accessible for all members of society.

Today’s reality, however, does not live up to this promise: Discussions are often destructive, fake news goes viral, and hate speech is a persistent problem. Addressing these issues in our public online spaces requires innovative and scalable solutions.

The Latsis Symposium 2023 will connect civil society actors, online news platforms and scientists to discuss novel pathways for tackling harmful online speech and strengthening public discourse.

Science
Elliott Ash (ETH), Laura Bronner (ETH), Drew Dimmery (University of Vienna), Karsten Donnay (University of Zurich), Ruben Enikolopov (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Gloria Gennaro (University College London), Fabrizio Gilardi (University of Zurich), Andy Guess (Princeton University), Rafael Jimenez (Bocconi University), Lena Song (Columbia University), Joshua Tucker (New York University)

Media
Laura Badura (Der Spiegel), Christian Burger (Der Standard), Felix Graf (Neue Zürcher Zeitung), Andreas Hobi (Blick), Martin Kotynek (Der Standard), Katia Murmann (Public Discourse Foundation), Désirée Pomper (20 Minuten), Yoel Roth (UC Berkeley, formerly Twitter Head of Trust & Safety), Nina Siegrist (Blick), Anja Zingg (20 Minuten)