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Wolfowitz Warns in WSJ That Social Media, AI Erode Democracy

July 4, 2026 at 04:21 EDT

Policy & Regulation
Security

Former U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz argued in a Wall Street Journal Opinion piece that social media and AI are undermining the foundations of democracy in ways "Tocqueville and Lincoln couldn't possibly foresee." The essay was published on July 3, 2026, as part of the Opinion section's package around Independence Day.

July 2, 2026 · WSJ Opinion

Our Freedom Still Needs Defending

Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz argues that social media and AI harm the "body politic" in ways Tocqueville and Lincoln could never have foreseen — the threat to American freedom, he writes, comes from within.

1838

Lincoln's Lyceum Address — the danger arises not from abroad but from within

1835

Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" — voluntary associations as a democratic strength

2001–05

The author's tenure as Deputy Secretary of Defense; now an AEI visiting scholar

The central imbalance

Technology turbocharged the capacity to associate — but not the capacity to deliberate together as citizens.

Capacity to ASSOCIATE

amplified at unprecedented speed

Capacity to DELIBERATE

left flat

Social media

instant association & sharing

→

Algorithms reward outrage

amplify conflict, spread it faster

→

AI accelerates

further speeds these trends

A historical framing, not a policy plan

The essay stays at the level of generalities — no product names, models or benchmarks — resting on Lincoln and Tocqueville rather than concrete proposals.

Overlaps with 2020s debates: the EU's DSA and U.S. state-level social-media laws
Echoes concerns over deepfakes and opinion manipulation via generative AI
Little in-depth independent follow-up in the days after publication

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