Creating a model democratic alternative to the surveillance state

ABSTRACT

Faced with a global decline in the principles of equality, freedom, transparency, and accountability, democracies must respond by turning their attention inward – and crafting a model that leads by example. Dealing with the advent of 21st-century surveillance methods is a place to start, because it presents both issues of justice and equity at home and novel national security threats abroad. This analysis offers an initial roadmap for American and aligned countries’ policymakers to pursue the democratic surveillance ideal.

KEYWORDS:

• Disruptive technology
• surveillance
• digital repression
• authoritarianism
• democracy
• futurism
• human rights
• artificial intelligence
• ethics

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank his colleagues Dan Correa, Divyansh Kaushik, and Karinna Gerhardt for their endless support in bringing this piece to life.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Ishan Sharma

Ishan Sharma is an adviser and fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, where he supports a broad science and technology policy portfolio. In 2021, he directed a FAS Special Project on Emerging Technologies and International Security with a focus on countering digital repression and platforming global voices. His work has been featured by BBC World Services Radio, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, AAAS Science, Technology, and Human Rights Conference, Lawfare’s Cyberlaw Podcast, and at TEDx.