Turn --- strong SDOs are key to democracy.
Wilkinson 21 – Research Fellow in the Digital Society Initiative at Chatham House, M.A. in Democracy and Governance from Georgetown University.
Isabella Wilkinson, “Digital standards are key for protecting democracy,” Chatham House, 07-07-2021, https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/05/digital-standards-are-key-protecting-democracy
To protect open, democratic societies from the consequences of digital authoritarian dominance and fragmenting the global digital ecosystem, G7 states and their allies recently committed to incentivising and investing in multi-stakeholderism at both national and international levels, boosting hopes that multi-stakeholder approaches (engaging non-state stakeholders like the private sector, academia, civil society and technical experts) may generate the alliances and fresh solutions needed to bolster resilient, democratic standards and societies alike.