Venice Commission President Marta Cartabia said on Tuesday that Romania's experience with the annulment of the 2024 presidential election results had provided an important opportunity to reflect on new challenges to security and democracy. She drew particular attention to the influence of social media and new forms of power exercised through digital platforms and algorithms.

'More recently, Romania's experience with the annulment of the 2024 presidential election results provided an important opportunity for the Venice Commission to reflect on new national security challenges that could affect all our democracies. The Commission eventually adopted a report which, without assessing the Constitutional Court's decision, sets out general principles that could also be considered by other national authorities facing similar threats to the integrity of the electoral process this year. I agree with the President [Nicusor Dan - editor's note]. This is the main challenge facing our democracy: social media and the use of new forms of communication can affect the integrity of our electoral decisions,' Marta Cartabia said in a speech delivered on Tuesday at the Rule of Law Forum, held at the 'Carol I' Central University Library.

Cartabia referred to remarks by President Nicusor Dan, who identified social media as one of the most significant challenges to democracy.

'Democracy is facing a challenge which, in my view, is its greatest one: communication on social media. I am not talking about content; I want to talk only about quantity. How can we ensure that the fundamental principle of democracy - one person, one voice, one vote - is upheld, while also preserving freedom of expression and freedom of association? We are seeing that it has become extremely cheap to pay for 1,000 voices to drown out one legitimate voice. I believe this is an issue that each of us, as people concerned about democracy and the rule of law, needs to reflect on,' the president said at the Rule of Law Forum.

Cartabia also discussed other emerging challenges to the rule of law, including the power wielded by private actors through algorithms and digital platforms.

'Allow me to highlight some of the main contemporary challenges to the rule of law. I would like to draw attention to three issues. First, unchecked power. Legal limits on the exercise of power - whoever holds it, including elected authorities - are inherent to democracy and are, in fact, a prerequisite for any democratic system to function. Yet the importance, and even the very existence, of such limits can no longer be taken for granted. A widespread culture of unlimited and unchecked power is one of the greatest challenges facing the rule of law. Second, new forms of power. Power is no longer exercised solely within governments and parliaments. It is also exercised through algorithms and digital platforms, and by private actors whose decisions affect millions of citizens in ways that are often invisible and opaque. This raises an urgent question: to what extent can the principles of the rule of law be applied to these new forms of power? Third, restoring the rule of law. Some countries have emerged from a period of democratic backsliding - including here in Europe - and are now undertaking delicate reforms to repair damaged institutions,' Cartabia said.

In her view, the erosion of the rule of law is also driven by a mindset according to which the majority that wins an election can impose its decisions without taking the opposition and minorities into account or involving them in the deliberative process.

'This mindset runs counter to the principle of the rule of law and represents a defeat for democracy. It is true that free and fair elections confer legitimacy on governments, but we must not forget that voter abstention rates are extremely high in most countries, and young people are often the ones who choose not to go to the polls. These are the same young people who are protesting in many countries across Europe - including Italy - and around the world, calling on governments to take their problems, concerns about the future and demands into account, and to respond to them. A democratic country governed by the rule of law cannot turn a deaf ear to the voice of the younger generation, nor can it perpetuate the mindset that ‘the winner takes all',' the Venice Commission President added. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Eusebi Manolache; EN - writing by: Cristina Zaharia)

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