The House of Lords has today agreed to appoint a new special inquiry committee to investigate the impact of digital technologies on democracy.
The Committee, which will be Chaired by Lord Puttnam will look at how the growth in digital technology has changed the way politics functions and what this means for the future of plural, representative democracy, as political parties, campaigners and government increasingly focus on online and social media to communicate with the public.
“Digital technologies are changing every aspect of our lives, and they are clearly having a significant impact on democracy and the way in which we carry out politics in this country,” said Puttnam, “we need to understand how best to respond to this challenge; whether we have the right models in place to regulate online political communications and the best means of ensuring the public develop faith in what they see and hear on-line.’
Lords: Knight of Weymouth; Black of Brentwood; Lipsey; Dobbs; Lucas; German; Mitchell; Harris of Haringey; Holmes of Richmond; Scriven Baronesses: Kidron and Morris of Yardley
Source: electronicsweekly
