Digital Media Shadowing Democracy: Technology, Communication and Power – a new publication by Nordicom and EMRG

The latest publication from Nordicom, ‘Digital Media Shadowing Democracy – Technology, Communication, and Power’, is now available as open access. Helena Sousa, a full member of CECS and chair of the Regulatory Council of the ERC (Regulatory Authority for the Media), is one of the editors (alongside Auksė Balčytienė and Péter Bajomi-Lázár).

Nordicom – the Centre for Nordic Media Research, based at the University of Gothenburg – has a mission to develop and disseminate science-based knowledge on the role of the media in Sweden and the Nordic region, as well as to contribute to strengthening Nordic media research and cooperation among Nordic researchers in this field.

According to the editors, this work, produced in partnership with the EMRG (Euromedia Research Group, a European consortium with which the CECS is also associated through the EUROMO project), highlights that “the quality of digital media performance remains fundamental to democratic life and to the responsibilities that citizens and institutions have towards one another. The authors call for political decision-making at both national and supranational levels. Regulatory bodies must have the legal tools and financial resources necessary to protect accurate information and combat disinformation, as only informed and critically minded citizens can defend democracies. The risks are too real to be underestimated. Awareness and action are needed.”

‘The book’s message is succinct: liberal democracies are at risk. Democratic decline has numerous causes, but technological innovations and profit-driven dynamics are shaping social relations in ways that intensify disagreements and polarisation, undermining informed citizenship.’

The book, which is available free of charge in digital format, is available here

[Posted: 15-05-2026]