BBC Democracy Day: ShinyShiny attends

Today is the BBC’s Democracy Day, and this evening a few members of the ShinyShiny team are excited to be attending an event entitled “Democracy and Technology”.

We’ll listen to a panel of experts from around the world debate how smartphones, social media and cyberspace have impacted the concept of democracy. The panel includes Vijaya Gadde of Twitter’s General Counsel; Arvind Gupta, social media head of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party; Rick Falkvinge, the founder of Sweden’s Pirate Party; and Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow.

The political backgrounds of some the panellists will make for a particularly insightful debate, as they discuss how the proliferation of technology and social media is creating more transparency, accountability and controversy. Also under question is how governments and authorities cope with these changes – and whether their responses are appropriate.

It’s worth noting that Stella Creasy made ShinyShiny’s Most Inspirational Women on Twitter list last year, not least for remaining incredibly strong in the face of some vicious Twitter trolling – which, thankfully, resulted in a conviction.

We’ll keep you updated on Twitter as the debate unfolds, and you can check out the BBC Democracy Day live stream for more information.

Main image: Paul Williams at Flickr Creative Commons