Lawfare Amid Democratic Decline: Speaking at the ICA Pre-Conference on Platforms, Power, and Contested Communication
Stephen Wolgast We spread the word about our work into lawfare at the preconference of the International Communication Association in June. Speaking in Stellenbosch, South Africa, I spoke in a session of about thirty participants describing our goals. The paper, by Lucia Mesquita as the lead author and co-written by Mathias Felipe de Lima Santos, Bruce Mutsvairo, Janara Nicoletti and me, explained how legal mechanisms undermine journalism’s democratic role. In the session on platforming democratic decline, it was one of six papers, leaving each presenter with eight minutes. Despite the brief time in front of the audience, our paper was well received, with a couple of questions about our scope (currently examining Europe, Russia, Latin America and the U.S.) and the timeframe (posting results in 2027). One of the paper’s co-authors, Bruce Mutsvairo, was in the audience and posed with me after the questions.