Nobel Peace Center in Oslo
24-25 September
It was a rainy September Tuesday morning when…
It was a rainy September Tuesday morning when we, Jouman, and Sondre; IYTT Youth Fellows, and Urban, the IYTT Director and Co-founder headed to the Nobel Peace Center in Norway’s capital Oslo for a two-day joint effort. The goal for the effort was the Nobel Peace Center’s Wednesday evening public event titled “Do we live in political echo chambers?”. Our role was to run OCDTs-Open Chair Democracy Talks with passers-by in the streets and present the findings at the Wednesday evening event.

After brainstorming on how we could discuss with passers-by how filter bubbles and echo chambers may influence them, we took to one of the main streets of Oslo to run OCDTs.
We asked the inhabitants and visitors of the Norwegian capital our four basic OCDT questions: If I say democracy which three words comes to you mind? Can you influence your life choices? Can you influence society? What does it take to make you more influential? This time, however, we did not merely want to stir the minds of strangers with these general questions about democracy, rights, and freedom, we wanted to dig a bit further into a more profound level of their psyche; how and if they were aware of the algorithms and polarization influence on their political opinions and if this has led up to problems in their relationships.
The OCDTs took place in two well-trafficked and central parts of Oslo: The Oslo Central Station and at the Nobel Peace Center. The Oslo Central Station is in the heart of the city with people from all walks of life passing through it, which is why we thought it would be the perfect place to act as a forum for people to express their thoughts and experiences. After having conducted several intriguing and invaluable conversations there, however, we were approached by the Oslo Central Station’s security guard who maintained that we were not allowed to move freely through the station, even though we were just opening the public space into a space of discussion and expression. This was frustrating to us, especially as a notion heard repeatedly by passer-byers was that there is a lack of forums for free and healthy discussion and sharing of thoughts, which was exactly what we were trying to bring to them. This did not discourage us, however, as we regrouped and ran more OCDTs within and around the premises of the Nobel Peace Center.
We had the presumption that people might be skeptical when we, as strangers, stopped them in the street. Especially when we ask them questions that they have never asked before. The people of Oslo proved us wrong as they bestowed us with smiles and sincere answers, many of which we have synthesized into Word Clouds, which includes words such as “equality”, “respect”, “freedom” and “peace”. The people of Oslo showed us why democracy matters and why it is worth fighting for and defending, but they also expressed their concerns about the increasing effects of algorithms, political echo chambers and polarization and the threats they constitute. See the findings from the Oslo OCDTs here.
These concerns bring us to the topic of the culminating public event at the Nobel Peace Center titled “Do we live in Political Echo Chambers?”. The event touched on subjects such as how problematic debate cultures online are in many ways not productive and reinforce participants’ preexisting political conceptions, a phenomenon with the name of “skyttegravsdebatt”, or “trench-debate”. The issues of regulating social media companies and creating forums for healthy and honest debate in addition to the increasing importance of keeping oneself accountable and aware of the algorithms and echo chambers and how they affect us are also discussed.
In conclusion, our joint project with the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo was an incredible opportunity to listen to the thoughts of the people of Oslo, especially within the realm of democracy and debate in the digital age. We are immensely grateful to the Nobel Peace Center for granting us a platform and we are thrilled to have taken part in such an important discussion about a topic which is far from solved.
Sondre Zakariassen Ranum & Jouman Tafnkji, Youth Fellows, IYTT