Plataformas Digitais E Os Desafios Da Democracia Deliberativa

This article aims to analyze how the digitalization of communication, especially through digital platforms, impacts the public sphere and the foundations of deliberative democracy, based on Jürgen Habermas' theory. The method used is the theoretical and interpretative analysis of the author's recent works, especially the book A New Structural Change in the Public Sphere and Deliberative Politics (2023), in dialogue with contemporary commentators. The results of the analysis indicate that, although platforms expand access to public debate and freedom of expression, they weaken the conditions that sustain meaningful democratic dialogue, replacing professional mediation with algorithms aimed at engagement. Habermas identifies ambivalent effects of this process, such as the erosion of journalistic gatekeeping, the formation of echo chambers, the decline of critical thinking, the spread of misinformation, and the confusion between the public and private spheres. It is concluded that such transformations require adequate regulation of platforms in order to ensure inclusion, equality, and communicative responsibility, thus preserving the rational foundations of democratic debate

Ambivalence · Confusion · Deliberative democracy · Democracy · Politics · Public sphere · Technological determinism · Education and Digital Technologies · Media and Communication Studies · Social Media and Politics