Double recognition of Defend Democracy’s visionary leadership

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…

“No cherry-picking, please.” Defend Democracy’s letter on EU Defence of Democracy package

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

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…

Stop regulating tech only when it’s too late. Make values mandatory from the start.

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…

The vulnerable cyborg. Arguments for humane digital technology, and how to tackle disinformation

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…

Putin’s asymmetric assault on democracy in the U.S. and Europe: implications for national security

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…