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Open Access 2024 | Open Access | Book

Epistemic Rights in the Era of Digital Disruption

Editors: Minna Aslama Horowitz, Hannu Nieminen, Katja Lehtisaari, Alessandro D'Arma

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Book Series : Global Transformations in Media and Communication Research - A Palgrave and IAMCR Series

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Table of Contents

About this book

This open-access volume argues that in a functioning democracy, citizens should be equally capable of making informed choices about matters of social importance. This includes citizens accessing all relevant information and knowledge necessary for informed will formation. In today's complex era of digital disruption, it is not enough to simply speak about communication or even digital rights. The starting point for this volume is the need for 'epistemic equality'.

The contributors seek to showcase the history and diversity of current debates around communication and digital rights, as precursors for the need for epistemic rights; both as a theoretical concept and an empirically assessed benchmark. The book highlights scholarship via academic case studies from around the world to feature different issues and methodological approaches, as well as similarities in academic and policy challenges across the globe.

The goal is to provide an overview of issues that depict challenges to epistemic rights, extract both academic and applied policy implications of different approaches, and end with a set of recommendations for advancing policy-relevant scholarship on epistemic rights. This volume is intended as the first holistic response to an urgent need to address epistemic rights of communication as a central public policy issue, as an academic analytical concept, as well as a central theme for informed public debate.

This book is open-access, meaning you have free and unlimited access.

Frontmatter

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Foundations

Frontmatter

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Chapter 1. Introduction: The Epistemic Turn

Abstract

In today’s era of accelerating digital disruption, optimism about democratic dialogues, diversity, inclusion, and other such good things is hard to come by. Digitalisation may empower us to connect and communicate, but it is also increasingly impeding our fundamental rights. Epistemic rights concern people’s capability to understand information and knowledge offered by epistemic institutions (such as the media and the like) and, based on this understanding, their ability to act for their own interests and needs, as well as those of society as a whole. In a democratic society, epistemic rights presume, among others, equality in all aspects relating to the access to and the availability of information and knowledge, symmetric relations in public communication, equality in obtaining critical literacy in information and communication, and equal protection of personal privacy from any form of public intrusion. This book is intended as the first holistic response to an urgent need to address epistemic rights regarding communication as a central public policy issue, an academic analytical concept, and a crucial theme for informed public debates.

Alessandro D’Arma, Minna Aslama Horowitz, Katja Lehtisaari, Hannu Nieminen

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Chapter 2. Why We Need Epistemic Rights

Abstract

The starting point of this chapter is the deepening divisions within our societies, which derive from both internal and external forces. As democracy is, by definition, the rule of the people, its basic requirement is equality in the act of ruling: in order for there to be equality in decision-making, people should share the same information and knowledge and understand the value and significance of this knowledge. In this chapter, the concept of epistemic rights is introduced. Epistemic rights refer to the requirement that society should guarantee that truthful information and knowledge are made available to all its citizens and that they have the competence to use these for their own benefit and that of society as a whole. As background, the chapter offers a short historical review of the communication rights movement, which can be seen as paving the way for epistemic rights. The conclusion articulates the need for further investigation of epistemic institutions and their role in democracy.

Hannu Nieminen

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Concepts and Issues

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Chapter 3. On the Need to Revalue Old Radical Imaginaries to Assert Epistemic Media and Communication Rights Today

Abstract

In this chapter, the liberal radical and the socialist radical imaginaries are foregrounded as providing important historical justifications for democratic and emancipatory public interventions in the context of media and communication. First, these two radical imaginaries will be unpacked with regard to their views on the role of the state, democracy, and citizen emancipation. Subsequently, the historical impact of these two radical imaginaries on media and communication will be addressed at the level of ownership of media and communication infrastructures, access to infrastructures, information and knowledge, the production and regulation of media content and public interventions relating to information and communication infrastructures. Finally, it will be concluded that in the current conjuncture characterised by inequality, surveillance, mis- and disinformation, and oligopolistic power, there is an urgent need to revalue these old radical imaginaries and combine them with new ones in tune with the digital age in order to provide a more solid basis to posit and justify a set of epistemic rights in the context of media, communication, and democracy today.

Bart Cammaerts

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Chapter 4. Epistemic Rights, Information Inequalities, and Public Policy

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the range of information inequalities that are fundamentally connected with the notion of epistemic rights and considers the various ways that public policy has—or could—address these inequalities. As this chapter illustrates, information inequalities permeate many aspects of the contemporary news and information ecosystem. This chapter considers well-established information inequalities such as the digital divide and disparities in media ownership as well as newer information inequalities, such as news deserts, disinformation divides, and algorithmic bias. This chapter is intended as a starting point for deeper conversations about how public policy can systematically address various forms of information inequality and thereby enhance individual and collective epistemic rights.

Philip M. Napoli

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Chapter 5. (Re-)casting Epistemic Rights as Human Rights: Conceptual Conundrums for the Council of Europe

Abstract

The Council of Europe has developed an elaborate system for the protection of human rights across its 46 Member States. Its centrepiece is the European Convention on Human Rights—Europe’s most important human rights treaty. The system offers strong protection for the rights to freedom of expression and participation in public debate. These rights, which concern freedom of expression, information, and communication and the integrity of the processes leading to the creation and dissemination of content and knowledge, have clear epistemic underpinnings. But the Council of Europe has yet to set out a comprehensive, coherent vision of the epistemic dimension to these rights. The Council, and in particular its judicial organ, the European Court of Human Rights, has so far addressed epistemic aspects of human rights in an incidental way. This chapter explores the epistemic values that help shape expressive and participatory rights, enquiring whether a re-conceptualisation of epistemic rights as human rights could strengthen the human rights that they already appear to inform. The Council of Europe has been selected as a case-study for this exploratory analysis due to its well-developed regulatory and policy framework. The framework is sufficiently concrete and coherent to allow reflection on the practical implications of the proposed re-conceptualisation.

Tarlach McGonagle

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Chapter 6. Epistemic Rights and Digital Communications Policies: Collective Rights and Digital Citizenship

Abstract

The concept of ‘epistemic rights’ marks an important conceptual shift in thinking about the politics of digital technologies, going beyond such framings as digital inclusion, digital rights, and the digital divide. It observes that epistemic rights are associated with a universalist conception of digital rights that promotes access and use of digital technologies among under-served communities and a nation-building agenda for digital policy. This can be contrasted to an individualistic conception of digital rights, which focuses upon the need for to protect citizens from over-reach by the nation-state. The latter has historically had a strong influence over technology policies than the first, due to the role of ‘internet imaginaries’ developed in the 1990s, that view the internet in terms of the triumph of individualism over collectivism. Drawing upon the recent work of Thomas Piketty and his collaborators, this chapter will focus upon the last of these as a factor in the political tensions that exist in technology policy discourses, particularly as nation-state regulation of the internet and digital platform companies becomes more widespread. It will consider the extent to which a discourse framed around epistemic rights could bring together new political coalitions around technology policy that can cross the divide between technocratic decision-making and populist politics.

Terry Flew

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Chapter 7. Public Service Media: From Epistemic Rights to Epistemic Justice

Abstract

Growing concerns in recent years over threats to the foundations of democratic societies posed by misinformation, hate speech, and other problems associated with digital communications have led to renewed calls for greater protection of epistemic rights within policy, advocacy, and academic fora. Institutionally mandated to promote citizenship, Public Service Media (PSM) organisations have an important role to play in supporting epistemic rights. We suggest four main conditions are required for this and in doing so we introduce the concept of epistemic injustice as a key to understanding the role of PSM. First, PSM are premised upon strong political commitment. At a time when this political commitment is dwindling, it is imperative that civil society, academia, and international organisations continue to make the case for PSM strong. Second, we argue that PSM need to evolve with the times and be allowed to use new transmission means, build new platforms, and innovate. Third, we argue that PSM have to move beyond supporting epistemic rights, as they have traditionally been bestowed, and contribute to epistemic justice, by questioning the existing power structures of knowledge. Finally, PSM need to work together with other educational and cultural institutions towards the creation of an epistemic commons, countering the privatisation of communitive spaces and striving to make knowledge accessible to all.

Maria Michalis, Alessandro D’Arma

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National and Regional Cases

Frontmatter

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Chapter 8. Towards Feminist Futures in the Platform Economy: Four Stories from India

Abstract

This chapter focuses on how gender relations are orchestrated in the platform economy and its platform-mediated structures of social power. While digital platforms have been seen as opportunities for women to enter the labour market, there is little evidence that platform work is challenging existing structural biases. The totalising control of algorithms in platform-mediated work exposes platform workers to exploitative conditions, raising important questions about platform workers’ epistemic rights. Based on primary research in India, and building on the research undertaken with colleagues, this text unpacks the impacts of ‘algorithmified’ work and their consequences on gendered epistemologies in the era of the platform economy. First, I will provide a brief background on the characteristics of digital platforms and algorithmic management of work. After this, I will examine implications for the agency and autonomy of women workers and micro-entrepreneurs who seek economic opportunities through digital labour platforms and e-commerce marketplaces. Offering a feminist analysis of the social relations of power that characterise algorithmically restructured labour markets, I will argue how we can move away from the present paradigm to one that is radically transformed.

Anita Gurumurthy

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Chapter 9. Epistemic Rights and Right to Information in Brazil and Mexico

Abstract

Using the experiences of two Latin American countries, Brazil and Mexico, this article analyses one aspect of the broad concept of epistemic rights: the right to information. This article aims to understand the strategies used to defend the approval of access to information laws in both countries and the ongoing challenges to guaranteeing this right in both countries after the implementation stage. The findings show that there was an effort in Mexico to detach the theme from the journalistic sphere to show its importance to different audiences. Meanwhile, in Brazil, there was a link to the rights to memory and truth. In both countries, the difficulties that arise concern the protection of the norm and its enforcement bodies in the face of different political scenarios.

Fernando Oliveira Paulino, Luma Poletti Dutra

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Chapter 10. Digital Authoritarianism and Epistemic Rights in the Global South: Unpacking Internet Shutdowns in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Internet shutdowns are increasing globally, not least in Africa. However, few studies have investigated their impact on citizens. Existing studies have approached internet shutdowns from an elitist standpoint. This is surprising considering that most internet shutdowns have a political motive. Consequently, there is a lacuna on how internet shutdowns impact the actual targets—the citizens. Given the Zimbabwean state’s tight control of the mainstream media, internet shutdowns are the last nail on the coffin of citizen rights to free speech. Grounded on digital rights, this exploratory study examines the impact of internet shutdowns on citizens in Zimbabwe. It illuminates how epistemic rights are intricately interwoven with broader human rights in authoritarian environments. Motives behind internet shutdowns, their impacts on citizens, and collateral effects are questions at the core of this exploration. Data were gathered using an open-ended electronic questionnaire completed by twenty-three purposively selected Zimbabwean citizens. The chapter reveals that shutdowns are political weapons of the state to curtail epistemic and other citizen rights. It argues that internet shutdowns diminish citizens’ access to information alternative to state propaganda. The study illuminates the interconnection between epistemic rights and other human rights in a semi-authoritarian state in the Global South.

Tendai Chari

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Chapter 11. Epistemic Violators: Disinformation in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

Disinformation poses a significant challenge to epistemic rights globally, but the phenomenon manifests differently and is promoted by different actors in different countries and regions. The capture of legacy journalistic outlets and the creation of journalism-like sites without journalistic principles and ethics by commercial and political actors have resulted in the significant erosion of epistemic rights in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Based on three mapping projects created by the Media and Journalism Research Centre, formerly the Centre for Media, Data and Society, at Central European University, this chapter showcases shifts in economic and political conditions of epistemic rights in CEE by focusing on entities that violate epistemic rights by deliberately promoting disinformation in the region.

Marius Dragomir, Minna Aslama Horowitz

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Chapter 12. Nordic Illusion and Challenges for Epistemic Rights in the Era of Digital Media

Abstract

The Nordic countries have been observed to have developed similar media and communications policies and communication rights. However, for historical reasons, the practical implementations of media policies and regulations in these countries also differ. The consequences of these varying implementations are especially observable in responses to current digital challenges. This chapter contributes to the study of epistemic rights by presenting three case studies that explore freedom of speech and dialogue, as well as Nordic countries’ responses to these issues through regulation and other media policy measures. While legislation values freedom of expression and dialogue, in practice, these principles can only be applied under favourable conditions. Support for epistemic rights is, therefore, continuously needed.

Reeta Pöyhtäri, Riku Neuvonen, Marko Ala-Fossi, Katja Lehtisaari, Jockum Hildén

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Chapter 13. Right to Data Access in the Digital Era: The Case of China

Abstract

This chapter examines the academic debate on access to digital data in China and the Chinese state’s policy on data, demonstrating the lack of consideration of epistemic rights in regulating access to digital data in China and the interplay of global tendencies and local particularities. This chapter makes the following main points. First, the concept of epistemic rights has not drawn the attention of Chinese academics, while the closely related concept of the right to information is approached from a legal perspective, one that stresses the consumer’s right to obtain public information and digital platforms’ data rights. Second, the right to data access has not been treated as an independent right but as part of the debate on data property rights and the right to information. Third, in the government’s data strategy policy, data is defined as a new factor of production that is key for national economic development (besides land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship). Finally, the lack of attention to epistemic rights and an overly narrow definition of data has undermined alternative explorations of the implications of the public good nature of data. Even though public data is accessible conditionally, the equality of non-public data access has not being a recognised principle in both academic research and the policymaking agenda.

Yik Chan Chin

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Implications

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Chapter 14. Conclusion: Ubiquitous Need for Epistemic Rights and the Way Forward

Abstract

This chapter is based on a conversation between Lani Watson, author of The Right to Know: Epistemic Rights and Why We Need Them (2021), and the editors of this book. They discussed why epistemic rights are fundamental to our digital age, which institutions are central to their realisation, and what issues need to be made more prominent in considering epistemic rights in academia and beyond.

Lani Watson, Minna Aslama Horowitz, Hannu Nieminen, Katja Lehtisaari, Alessandro D’Arma

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Backmatter

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Title: Epistemic Rights in the Era of Digital Disruption
Editors: Minna Aslama Horowitz
Hannu Nieminen
Katja Lehtisaari
Alessandro D'Arma
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-031-45976-4
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-45975-7
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-45976-4