On the eve of Defend Democracy’s fifth anniversary*, we are thrilled to welcome new members to our Board and to our Advisory Board and to join the Steering Group of Netherlands’ Democracy Coalition. Alice Stollmeyer, our Founder and Executive Director, said: “Five years after being founded, our work has lost none of its relevance. If…
An umbrella does not shield against flooding. For the European Democracy Shield to do what it says, it must encompass the full spectrum of hybrid threats, not only foreign disinformation. Like any shield, it is only as strong as its bearer. If it is to be more than a fig leaf, our work to defend…
9 May 2024 (Europe Day), Brussels and The Hague Coalition for Democratic Resilience Defend Democracy today launches the Coalition for Democratic Resilience, strengthening our response to the growing hybrid and technological threats to democracy. The new Coalition will start work on 29 May 2024 at an international conference under the auspices of Belgium’s EU Presidency,…
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…
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…
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…
