Humans will soon be a minority on the internet. What does it mean for our democracy? By Chris Kremidas-Courtney, Senior Advisor, Defend Democracy According to the just-released 2024 Imperva Bad Bot Report, automated bots were found to be responsible for 49.6% of all internet traffic. Over half of these were classified as “bad bots.” In…
The age of artificial intelligence (AI) is not just approaching, it’s already upon us. It will transform our lives and challenge our values, laws, and social norms. We need a new social contract for the age of AI. Chris Kremidas-Courtney, Senior Advisor, Defend Democracy Joe Litobarski, PhD Researcher in the History of Technology & Democracy,…
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…
Given the alarming implications for democracy and security of the take-over of Twitter by U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, Defend Democracy has sent an urgent letter to the Presidents of the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament. The letter, sent to the European institutions on Sunday 30 October 2022, has been signed by…
In Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine and the West, how to share information responsibly? Press ‘play’ to learn this and more in Defend Democracy‘s first Twitter Space, hosted on Friday 25 February 2022. With speakers from: NATO, EUvsDisinfo, DFRLab, Human Rights Watch, Cognitive Security. Moderator: Alice Stollmeyer, Defend Democracy Find the do’s and don’ts on…
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…
