Priority Theme Spotlight: Susan Hyde
Author: Ayuko Picot
Theme: Democracy, Conflict, and Polarization
Susan Hyde, EGAP member and former Executive Director, spoke as a panelist at the Berkeley Conversations event, Defending Against Disinformation, on the impact of disinformation on democracy. During the panel, Professor Hyde discusses how even though propaganda has been around for a long time, what is new is the scale of the use of social media for disinformation and its ability to target messages at the individual level. Based on her work on democratic backsliding globally, Professor Hyde proposes a few solutions to address disinformation and growing hyperpartisanship in the US including the formation of a nonpartisan electoral administration as well as a grand coalition of organizations, leaders, and civic groups that participate as non-partisan, domestic election observers.
Professor Hyde is the Chair of the Department of Political Science and Co-Director of the Institute of International Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a leading expert on international election observation, election fraud, and democracy promotion.
You can find a clip highlighting Professor Hyde’s comments from the panel discussion below.