Across the globe many democracies are facing internal
fragmentation and polarisation as well as domestic and
cross-border political, economic and social challenges.
Disillusionment with democracy, the emergence and
growth of social media and artificial intelligence, the
spread of disinformation and deep fakes; and the
mainstreaming of extremism has profound consequences
for democratic nations. How we preserve social cohesion
while preventing, managing, and responding to these
challenges is fast becoming one of the most important questions of our time.
This Review is an examination of some of the contemporary threats to social cohesion and
our country’s democratic resilience. Many of the risks I outline are eroding cohesion and our
democratic norms at an individual, institutional and societal level. Rather than high risk and
acute threats such as terrorism, cyber-security and foreign state interference, many of the
cohesion risks I identify are chronic, insidious and often sit below the radar; the impact of which
is not actively measured or even fully appreciated.
There is a growing and dangerous climate of threatening and intimidatory harassment leading to
serious censorship – what I have termed freedom-restricting harassment – affecting not just our
politicians and those in public life, but members of the public too.
In the first polling of its kind, this Review demonstrates the shockingly widespread nature
of this phenomenon across British society. Horrifying victim testimonies demonstrate how
freedom-restricting harassment is poisoning the lifeblood of our public and civic life and our
institutions; and is creating a pervasively censorious culture antithetical to our democratic way
of life.
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