Society – Leibniz University Hannover

Megaphone, symbol for the loud dissemination of opinions

Freedom of speech enjoys particular protection in our liberal democratic order. However, in recent years different political actors and groups have increasingly used the right to free expression of opinion to loudly disseminate fake news, disinformation and alternative facts and to incite fear and spread hate. The uproar on all sides is making people feel more and more insecure. The mainstream of society is faltering, and democracy is becoming a risk.

At the Leibniz Center for Science and Society (LCSS), Prof. Dr. Henning Laux, professor of sociological theories of the knowledge society, interprets contemporary society as a “risk democracy” in which politics, academia and the mass media are increasingly coming under pressure. Based on this diagnosis, Prof. Laux studies the effects on the scientific system.

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