History is back. For freedom and democracy’s sake we’d better make sure to be ready, and to act together. When preparing this talk* I realised that, in a way, the year 2021 is kind of an anniversary, though not a happy one. But I will aim to end my talk on an optimistic note. In…
A values-based approach to new technologies Defending democracy from technological threats is a key pillar of our work. At Defend Democracy, we are very concerned about the myriad of — often unintended — side-effects of new and emerging technologies to our freedoms and fundamental rights. The pandemic has only accelerated these worrying developments, with our…
Experts expected domestic and foreign disinformation campaigns would try to disrupt the integrity of the elections in the Netherlands. Our social media watchdog Kieskijker observed many inauthentic online activities around the general elections on 17 March 2021. Through a real-time campaign Kieskijker exposed disinformation and manipulation, thereby decreasing harmful effects and increasing digital literacy. When…
Experts expect that domestic and foreign disinformation campaigns will try to disrupt the integrity of the elections in the Netherlands. Our social media watchdog Kieskijker observes online activities that build up to the general elections on 17 March 2021 and sees fake polls, fake political profiles and fake chat groups. Through a campaign, Kieskijker exposes…
Outraged by the never-ending blatant lies by the likes of Putin, Xi, Orban and Trump? Then make sure you don’t inadvertently help spread their propaganda. Because that’s what it is: their ‘firehose of falsehood‘ is a propaganda technique bombarding us with a large number of messages that are broadcast rapidly, repetitively, and continuously over multiple…
Defend Democracy and dozens of other European democracy and rights organisations express their concern about developments at the US Agency for Global Media. They urge US Congress’ foreign affairs committees to act urgently and decisively to maintain the fully nonpartisan, independent nature of USAGM’s journalism networks and open technology fund. “We are writing to you…
The corona virus pandemic throws a critical light on current EU efforts to tackle disinformation. The COVID-19 infodemic confirms that online disinformation impacts our real world: it has economic costs and can even be lethal. Clearly, current efforts to tackle this problem are not enough. On Wednesday 10 June the EU Commission will publish a…
As a digital activist she learned to expose Russian disinformation.Now she launches a new project to defend democracy. As a leading EU influencer who works 24/7 at the frontline of geopolitics and digital advocacy, in 2014 Alice Stollmeyer witnessed first-hand the spread of trolls and bots. She didn’t need research to find them: they found…
This article by Defend Democracy‘s Executive Director Alice Stollmeyer was first published at Protego Press. When I still was a student in social studies of science and technology, I loved reading and writing about new technologies shaping society and vice versa, about cyborgs blurring boundaries between ‘man and machine’, and about the sociology of things…
By AP – A new report warns of deepening Russian interference throughout Europe and concludes that even as some Western democracies have responded with aggressive countermeasures, President Donald Trump has offered no strategic plan to bolster their efforts or safeguard the U.S. from again falling victim to the Kremlin’s systematic meddling. The report is the…
