This session is all about investigating how "fancy tech" is helping to shape open, honest, and more efficient political systems. I am coming from a country with quite a "questionable democracy" and have seen (and even unconsciously participated in) technology being used to suppress and surveil. However, my whole last year at ITP was devoted to using the power of technology to fight fears, collective traumas, all kinds of oppression, and propaganda. There will be cases and examples, research and practical findings, and a workshop on combining storytelling practices with ML for your own socially significant projects.