Public Lecture "Elections in a Fragile World: How Democracies Can Endure Strategic Manipulation"

Join us for an engaging discussion on how to protect elections from disinformation and cyber attacks. On Monday, December 8, from 14:15 to 15:45, cybersecurity and strategic communications expert Liisa Past will deliver a public lecture exploring the challenges and solutions in protecting democratic processes.

Democracies are culturally and institutionally fragile, and current global trends are increasingly moving away from democratic ideals. Eroding trust in the integrity of elections and public institutions, widespread information disorder, cyber attacks, and an overstretched global ecosystem of democratic support have contributed to political fatigue and a shrinking capacity to respond. As a result, non-democratic forces are expanding their influence with strategic precision. For the opportunistic attacker, everything becomes an attack surface: election administrators, digital infrastructure, governance processes, and even the hearts and minds of citizens.

In this session, Liisa Past examines how democracies can protect their electoral institutions, the backbone technologies that enable them, and the contested marketplace of ideas on which they depend. She will outline the converging threats targeting elections, highlight emerging lessons from the field, and discuss the strategic, technical, and societal interventions that can help safeguard democratic norms, institutions, and political culture.

Liisa Past (MA, CISSP) is a cybersecurity and strategic communications expert widely recognized for her leadership in strengthening the digital foundations of democracy. As Estonia’s National Cyber Director, she coordinated cybersecurity policy across government and society, advancing whole-of-nation resilience in the world’s most digitally advanced democracy.

Liisa has served as an election technology expert on EU and OSCE/ODIHR election observation missions across three continents and has advised governments and international organizations on information security and digital resilience. As a Next Generation Leader at the McCain Institute at Arizona State University, she focused on securing elections and democratic technologies. She played a central role in Estonia’s first comprehensive election risk assessment and served as the lead editor of the EU’s inaugural Compendium on Cyber Security of Election Technology.

The lecture will be moderated by Piret Ehin, Professor of Comparative Politics.

Following the lecture, participants are invited to a reception with drinks and refreshments.

The lecture is organized in the framework of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence project REPAIR (grant agreement 101085795) in collaboration with the University of Tartu anti-disinformation platform.

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