Thorlaug (Thora) Borg Agustsdottir

Thora is a PhD student in Political Science at the University of Iceland conducting theoretical research into how Surveillance Capitalism undermines Democratic institutions.

Thora joins academia as a Cyber-communication veteran and first-generation Netizen with three decades of professional experience and practical knowledge in political communication and online media.  During her career she has directed large multi-media communication projects including political campaigns, news portals, social platforms and Cyber-crisis communication.

Her academic focus is politics of the Internet, Democratic discourse, and Global Cybersecurity.

Thora’s current research examines Shoshanna Zuboff’s Grand Unified Perspective of Surveillance Capitalism and claims of a Big-Tech power-grab through Cyberspace. The research tests Zuboff’s claims using methodologies from democratic theory and information sciences in order to identify Democracy’s weak spots and develop preventive measures. This research is a continuum of a larger academic effort to develop a framework based on Mark E. Warren’s functional democratic theory, with intent to conceptualize, measure and order current developments of Cyberspace.