Digital Democracy and Pathological Digital Interactions

A Critical Debate in Opposition to Jürgen Habermas

Abstract

The research focus of this article is the latest book by German philosopher Jürgen Habermas, “A New Structural Change of the Public Sphere and Deliberative Politics” (2023), in which he offers a contemporary analysis of the digital tools of democracy, specifically in the context of deliberative politics and the formation of public opinion. Our aim is to conduct a critical examination of Habermas’s idea of the deformation of the public sphere, precisely due to the rise of digital-technological instruments. Furthermore, we seek to identify and highlight shortcomings in Habermas’s analysis regarding the functioning of algorithmic degenerations that fragment democracy. This research analyzes how subtle aspects of the establishment of technological neoliberalism, beginning in the 21st century, bring about a collapse of the democratic model, with the aim of perpetuating the digitization of democracy, resulting in conspiracy theories, fake news, and hate speech. To this end, this work explores the Habermasian ideas present in that book, contrasting them with the perspectives of critics of contemporary algorithmic trends, such as Byung-Chul Han (1959-), Shoshana Zuboff (1951-), Evgeny Morozov (1984-), among others. As a result, this investigation raises alarms about the minefield in which contemporary democracy finds itself, pointing out shortcomings in Habermasian analysis and outlining fundamental steps for reflecting on the pathological dictates of the algorithm.