Udbhav Tiwari

In an era where platforms and messengers act as invisible editors of the digital public sphere, the future of journalism depends not only on credible content — but on credible infrastructure. What values are encoded in the systems people rely on to access information? What role should messaging apps play in safeguarding media freedom and digital rights?

Udbhav Tiwari, VP of Strategy and Global Affairs at the Signal Foundation, explores how privacy-first design, smart regulation, and democratic governance models can help rebuild trust and autonomy in a fragmented news landscape.

In a world where infrastructure is invisible and influence is opaque, what does digital sovereignty really mean for journalism? Platforms set the rules, messengers bypass the newsroom, and AI rewrites everything. Journalism is reinventing itself — but can it keep up with the pace of disruption? This panel brings together Udbhav Tiwari (Signal Foundation), Alexandra Borchardt (Reuters Institute), and Meinolf Ellers (dpa) for a critical cross-sector conversation on trust, infrastructure, and regulation. Who owns the digital public square — and who keeps it open?