Estado, razão e ética na Era da "Informação": tensão entre a cybercultura e a democracia

Abstract

The historical period we are currently experiencing brings important reflexions on the social, economic and cultural transformations followed by the invention of the internet, digital devices and Artificial Intelligence. The effects of these changes in the political fabric are undeniable, however the legal framework has not yet been adapted to this “new era” which has been solidified by the widespread access to technological apparatus that operate on the global computer network. The phenomenon of disinformation, although not new, has reached unprecedented proportions, which has highlighted the erosion of politics and the Democratic Rule of Law throughout the world, including Brazil. In this context, the purpose of the research is to understand how disinformation strategies and the post-truth phenomenon affect one of the main pillars of Modernity – reason – and, consequently, undermine public debate, one of the foundations for the model of Democracy practiced in our time, representative democracy. For this purpose, the research seeks to revisit the concept of reason and its importance in shaping the current model of State. Subsequently, we seek to understand the roots of the technological revolution that originated Artificial Intelligence, internet and Big Data. From this historical overview, the concept of information will be brought to light to reflect on disinformation and the post-truth concept. Finally, the discussion will address the technological shift toward a cybernetic culture (Cyberculture) to identify the challenges of consensus driven by social media networks, highlighting the polarization and the formation of groups into “digital swarms”. Considering all these discussions, we will outline these new characteristics and social arrangements to question the space of reason in an environment where extremism, scientific denialism and ideological conflicts are potentialized, following the policy of extreme freedom of expression on social media. One of the discoveries of the research is that reasonableness, verifiable facts and truth are being sidelined to make way for immediacy, disintermediation, and the priorization of opinion and individualism, to the detriment of science, institutions previously stable, plurality and democracy.