AI is already shaping how we think. About the political choice that could determine whether democracy can survive the age of AI. by Chris Kremidas-Courtney, Senior Advisor to Defend Democracy Today, Big Tech is shaping the environment in which human choices are made by defining the menu of ideas and information available to citizens. This…
Shortly after our 6th anniversary, Defend Democracy is excited to launch a new phase. Six years of our mission about hybrid threats and technological threats to democracy brought much awareness, action and collaboration. Although successful, it was not enough for our governments to stop these trends, which now converge and accelerate. Our work significantly contributed to…
Defend Democracy founder Alice Stollmeyer examines how converging foreign, domestic, and technological threats test the EU’s democratic resilience – and its policy choices. Like the climate crisis, the democracy crisis didn’t happen overnight. Rather than a single tipping point, democracy dies by a thousand cuts. And until recently, European institutions and democracies stood by and…
Is Europe ready for the era of hybrid warfare? To defend against hybrid attacks, we must urgently build civil preparedness and societal resilience. When updating security assets, we must not only invest in hardware and software but also in ‘wetware’. When Defend Democracy started, ‘hybrid threats’ was still a niche concept. Today, you only need…
To protect our children and our democracies, we have to stop fighting the wrong battles. The best defence isn’t being better parents or being better voters. It’s governing the platforms designed to exploit and divide us for profit. by Suzanne Nam, Advisor to Defend Democracy STOP BLAMING OURSELVES Nearly every parent I know struggles to…
“We have been incredibly naive in entrusting our democratic space to [American and Chinese] social networks, whose interests are not at all the survival or proper functioning of our democracies.” From a speech by President Macron on the occasion of German Unity Day, 3 October 2025 “Finally, it is up to us Europeans to take…
Since the end of 2024, YouTube has been offering a new feature that automatically translates and dubs videos using artificial intelligence. With a single click, this innovation makes videos accessible to millions of English-language viewers. But in election season, the technology also raises questions: who decides whether party politics should suddenly be presented in another…
Digital engineering creates not just far-right voters; it manufactures far-right candidates. Does the EU have the courage to take and enforce adequate structural measures to defend democracy against the weaponisation of digital platforms? How many dominoes can the EU afford to fall? by Martin Gak Defend Democracy is publishing a new analysis in the wake…
Today, 23 April 2025, the European Commission fined Meta and Apple for breaching EU law. After months of investigation and fruitless dialogue, the tech firms now have 60 days to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act. Defend Democracy comments: “It is great that the European Union is leading the governance of digital technologies and…
Today, Defend Democracy co-organised the first in a series of ‘HandsOFF Our Democracy‘ protests. Our founder and executive director gave the following speech. A few months before I launched Defend Democracy*, just 50 meters from here we organised a peaceful protest in solidarity with the American ‘March for Truth’. That was in June 2017. We…
