Athens, 10 June 2022

President of Hellenic Parliament opens Conference on “Digital Technologies and the Stakes for Representative Democracy”

“The digital revolution which is making leaps more and more every day has a positive aspect for democracy, but also challenges which we are able to tackle”. This was said by the President of the Hellenic Parliament Constantine Tassoulas who opened the international scientific conference on “Digital Technologies and the Stakes for Representative Democracy”, which is being organised by the Foundation of the Hellenic Parliament for Parliamentarism and Democracy, the European Parliament and the Parliaments of Estonia, Spain, Italy, Cyprus and Portugal. 

As Mr Tassoulas stressed, “Technology basically leaves the heart of politics intact”, however, he noted, “digital involvement in politics, is there to worsen a bad image that exists, but not to reverse a positive reality”. 

The President of the Parliament then pointed out that we live in a time full of crises, in which we are called upon to address “the manipulation of information and false narratives, which are now very present in our lives, not just locally, but also geopolitically, geostrategically”. And added: “The European Union will soon (in 2023) have a new legislative framework, with which it will try to put all of these online “companions” in order, put hate speech in order, put algorithms in order, put the control of fake news in order”.

Mr Tassoulas explained that “technology has given a vast field to the spread of fake news”, however, he stressed that “the basic defence – for better or worse – is education and the level of the citizens.” “If the sovereign citizens, at the end of the day, are not able to assume their responsibility and address all this information in a critical manner, then no European directive, no three-day conference in Athens or in Nafplion, no workshop, no PhD, will prevent what is so far preventable” added the President of the Parliament. 

 The conference is taking place on the 10th and 11th of June in the Senate Hall of the Hellenic Parliament and will conclude with a session at the Vouleftikon in Nafplion, on Sunday 12 June 2022. 

 High resolution images






Related files



Back