#41 Mega Tech and Mega Hate in the Post-Democratic Digital Age
What happened to the early promise of the internet as a space for civic participation, activism, and democratic renewal?
In this episode of Zooming in on Hate, Lydia El-Khouri speaks with Prof. Anna Krasteva from the Policy and Citizens’ Observatory about the transformation of digital spaces from hopeful civic platforms into increasingly hostile arenas of polarization, disinformation, and hate.
Recorded at the INACH Summit in Sofia, this conversation explores how mega tech, political power, and extremist narratives intersect in what Prof. Krasteva describes as a post-democratic digital era. From the transformation of Twitter into X to the rise of fake media ecosystems and digitally mobilized hate campaigns, the episode reflects on how online platforms are reshaping democratic life—and what civil society still needs to answer.