Recalling the election year 2024, especially with a view on the European elections to the European Parliament and the US elections in November, there is no doubt that political communication changed and that modern election campaigns will be fought publicly and are fast-paced, reactive, scandalizing, populist, entertaining and emotional. Election campaigns are their own world in this sense and, in addition to traditional media, are characterized by social media campaigns, short messages, fast happenings and meme culture.

Facing the upcoming German federal election in 2025, we want to dig into the form and characteristics of modern political communication. Bearing in mind that with digitalized new media and the global scale of the public, shaped by algorithms and advanced technology like A.I., we want to analyze how public opinion is shaped or manufactured during campaigns.

• Is digitalization and social media revolutionizing the way election campaigns are conducted?
• What crucial roles do social media and their digital tools play?
• How important is their algorithm?
• How did political messaging and the used language change?
• What effects does AI have?
• How could politicians use digital measures to strengthen democracy and combat disinformation?
• What lessons can be drawn from the past EU/state/US elections for upcoming elections?

Together with our Guest Sven Kindervater from the Projekt PolisiN, we want to cook and have a nice discussion, answering all our questions. “PoliSiN” (Politiker_innen sicher im Netz) is a project that highlights importance of cybersecurity for political decision-makers and aims to provide them with in-depth knowledge in the area of ​​digital security. Mr. Kindervater will provide us with comprehensive knowledge of his work und perspective on how modern political communication changes and what we can learn for future assignments.

As an expert we welcome Sven Kindervater from PolisiN. There he works as a Project management for “Politicians safe on the Internet – PolisiN”. Sven also has his own business and political consulting company (coaching) and is the Deputy Chairman at “Future Bicycle”.

We invite you to join this critical discussion on the opportunities and challenges of modern political communication. Your insights and perspectives are essential as we consider the future of media, the role of social platforms, and the influence of technology in shaping public opinion and democracy itself.

Register here.

The discussion will be held in English.

We want to thank our sponsor, the Berliner Landeszentrale für politische Bildung.