Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, now climate warrior, said his new passion is intimately connected to free speech issues. “To address the climate crisis we’re going to have to address the democratic crisis,” he said at the forum yesterday. “And to do that we’re going to have to address what’s happening with our information ecosystem.”

Maria Ressa, winner of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, also speaking at Skoll, said she faced criminal charges in her native Philippines for trying to counter state-sponsored disinformation spread via social media. One of two journalists to win the prize since 1935, she said companies like Facebook use artificial intelligence to micro-target stories at individuals, exposing them to extremist views. This provides cover to leaders seeking to suppress dissent in democracies.

“If you have no facts you have no truth,” she said. “If you have no truth you have no trust, and if you have no trust, you have no democracy.”