How the next European Commission can improve its defence of democracy Given the results of the European elections, the EU should urgently improve its defence of democracy. Today, 16* civil society organisations sent EU Commission President Von der Leyen the following letter: Dear President Von der Leyen, In your bid for a second mandate as…
In her bid for a second mandate as President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen vows to ‘defend democracy from those who seek to destroy it’. This is music to Defend Democracy‘s ears. Assuming Von der Leyen is not making an empty election promise, we have some concrete suggestions for how her next…
The EU’s AI Act could be the start of a new era of human-centred technology development or wind up as a cynical watered-down document that forfeits European values in an ill-advised attempt to gain a competitive edge. The choice between these two futures is being made right now as EU member states negotiate the final…
Defend Democracy celebrates double praise for its groundbreaking work on a Zeitenwende for democracy. Alice Stollmeyer selected for U.S. government’s International Visitor Leadership Program. Defend Democracy’s founder and executive director, Alice Stollmeyer, has been selected to take part in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP), the U.S. State Department’s premier professional exchange program. Established in…
Foreign interference in democratic processes is part of a much larger toolbox used by authoritarian state actors, whether you call that toolbox political warfare, active measures or hybrid threats. Therefore, rather than taking a narrow view of foreign interference limited to elections, disinformation, political advertising, and funding of political parties, Defend Democracy urges the European…
Russia’s Great Information War on the West started in 2014. How does this impact Putin’s war against Ukraine — and our response? Press ‘play’ to learn this and more in Defend Democracy‘s second Twitter Space, hosted on Friday 11 March 2022. With speakers from: Ukraine StratCom Centre, EUvsDisinfo, Atlantic Council, American Enterprise Institute, and the…
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…
On Wednesday 10 April 2019, Defend Democracy had the pleasure of organising a very special edition of its monthly Democracy Drinks: the European premiere of must-see documentary ‘Active Measures’ about Putin’s assault on democracy. The special screening took place at the European Parliament. Active Measures chronicles the most successful espionage operation in Russian history: the…
It may not look like war, but perhaps it should. Russia’s interference in American democracy proves that popular conception of the term needs to be updated – and failure to do so could increase U.S. susceptibility. By Patryk Babiracki Previously published in The Wilson Quarterly; republished on this page with kind permission of the author. “We…
