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“Democracy put to the test of fake”: lecture at the University of Geneva
At the invitation of the Geneva Diplomatic Club, foraus and the University of Geneva, Alain Berset gives a lecture at Uni Dufour on disinformation and democracy. The debate that follows, hosted by Esther Mamarbachi (RTS, “Infrarouge”), brings together Jean-Marc Ayrault, former French Prime Minister, and the sociologist Sandro Cattacin.
His thesis: no law against fake news. “It is dangerous to determine administratively what is true or false.” The answer lies in critical thinking and a strong press. He describes three trends that reinforce each other: the fragmentation of debate on the internet, the structural crisis of the media (No Billag, the crisis at the SDA/ATS news agency), polarisation. “In a democracy, Facebook is not enough. In a democracy, there must be real dialogue.” Direct democracy and power-sharing are, in his view, the best bulwark.
Speeches on this site
- La démocratie suisse à l’épreuve des fake news (French-language page)
Sources