DIGITAL DEMOCRACY

By Javier Canales Luna

September 21, 2020

Covid-19 and video conferencing: a necessary and profitable romance 

The social distancing measures adopted to contain the covid-19 have compelled societies to find alternatives to face-to-face communication. With hundreds of millions of people forced to remain in their home, video conferencing has never been more crucial. 

While many sectors of the economy are struggling with the pandemic, video conferencing providers such as Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams can be seen as corporate winners. For example, Zoom reported an increase of 354% in the number of customers with more than 10 employers in the first quarter of 2020 and a rise of revenues by 169% year-on-year. 

Video conferencing platforms have been vital to keep social contact with relatives and friends, and its consolidation is likely to have a profound impact in areas like (remote) work and (online) education. While these two sectors are receiving broad coverage by media and academia, less has been reported so far about how video conferencing may transform politics. Indeed, the key question is not whether video conferencing can change the way politics is made (the answer is yes, as explained in next session), but whether governments and politicians will continue using these tools once restrictions are lifted. If the latter is proved true, video conferencing has the potential to change politics (and thus, democracies) forever.

Politics and video conferencing during lockdowns 

Just like companies, governments and political parties worldwide have been affected by social distancing measures. As a result, their day-to-day work has rapidly shifted towards video conferencing, which has become a standard medium to conduct meetings, negotiate or hold press conferences. 

The same goes for parliamentary activity. Indeed, the coronavirus crisis has already left us historic moments, such as the first ever online parliamentary sessions in the UK House of Common —with MPs participating in Parliament in person and via Zoom—, which can be seen as one of the greatest changes in British parliamentary procedure in centuries. The Brits probably drew inspiration from Canadian House of Common, which celebrated its first virtual sitting some weeks before. 

The covid-19 crisis is also having a significant impact on electoral processes. Fearing the spread of the virus at the polling stations, state authorities have postponed a planned election or considered alternative voting processes. Where authorities have decided to continue with holding elections, political candidates have explored innovative campaigning mechanisms to reach their electorates. This includes video conferencing. For example, during the second round of the municipal elections in France, celebrated in June, several candidates in the city of Grenoble have held online debates in Zoom. 

Finally, governments are leveraging the capabilities of video conferencing to enable democratic participation. Local authorities, whose actions have a direct impact on citizens, are particularly well-suited to advance initiatives of this nature. For instance, the UK Local Government Association have listed several cases of councils that have piloted virtual  meetings to deliberate with citizens.


A case for the ‘zoomatisation’ of politics 

It is too soon to say whether the covid-19 pandemic will bring about the ‘zoomatisation’ of politics. However, in these unprecedented times, where the world is experiencing one of the biggest transforming moments in the last decades, instead of making a retreat to pre-covid practices once restrictions are lifted, politicians and public servants should seriously consider the prospects of video conferencing. 

Yet these tools and platforms have been with us for a while (in 2018, the industry was valued over 3 billion dollars, and was expected to reach 6,37 billion by 2026), the current crisis is driving demand for video conferencing solutions as never before. The widespread use of videoconferencing is among the main forces in the current cultural shift towards virtual communications. If we manage to close the digital divide and everyone —particularly older people, students and people with low-incomes— has access and is familiar with these tools, politics and democracies could go (partly) virtual. 

Concerns such as the democratic deficit, the lack of transparency or accountability could be partially mitigated if we take advantage of video conferencing tools to establish a more constant, closer and honest dialogue between politicians and society. Nowadays, in rare occasions people have the possibility to speak directly and ask questions to their representatives. Video conferencing could alleviate that hurdle, paving the way for new models of participatory democracy. Governments at every level could take advantage of virtual tools to promote citizen engagement, from the European Union (EU) to local administrations.

Also, video conferencing is crucial to increase the frequency of meetings between governments. While it will be easier for local authorities to go back to face-to-face meetings eventually, governments and organizations that have to commute long distances to meet —e.g. the EU— have a lot to win in the long term, once they gets used to it. Further, it would be possible to establish new and strengthen existing networks between governments at different levels. As video conferencing means the end of most of the spatial and temporal limitations that have always conditioned human communication, nothing would preclude a local authority from, say, Spain, to connect with a regional authority in Poland.  These initiatives will be crucial not only to create bonds between societies, but also to transmit knowledge and share ideas that will help authorities to deliver more effective policies in crucial challenges such as climate change, poverty, or the current pandemic. 

The covid-19 pandemic is changing our world already. As a result of the restrictions to contain the virus, we are witnessing an explosion of creativity as people are using technology, including video conferencing, to bridge the physical gap. Yet imperfect, video conferencing has a huge potential to improve our lives and societies. Politics should not be an exception.