Democracy Reporting International

⚠️We are witnessing how Big Tech companies are scaling down their commitments against disinformation and other harmful content - we need immediate action to guarantee EU tech sovereignty! 🚨 The Trump administration’s intent to undermine EU laws is deeply concerning. This is why we signed a new open letter joined by 35+ groups and organisations that urges the European Commission to continue to hold Big Tech accountable through the enforcement of the DSA and the DMA ✉️ https://bit.ly/4jzHag2 ✊ The time to act is now - important platforms that are part of the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation are ceasing their collaboration with fact-checkers, reducing transparency and dropping measures on political ads, as the Code of Practice evolves into a Code of Conduct and becomes more authoritative. Read more about it and where our organisation stands 👉🏽 https://bit.ly/3PLLXgJ 🤝 European Digital Rights SOMO

🚨AHEAD's website is live now - check it out ⬇️ We’re proud to be part of AHEAD Africa, a pan-African project working to enhance electoral integrity and civil society engagement across the continent.   🤝 As a partner, we’re contributing through advocacy training and capacity-building for CSOs - supporting with tools to monitor elections effectively and push for change!

The Trump administration has created chaos across the world by suspending US-funded projects, even on-going ones l, which are based on legally binding contracts. Very problematic and also business-unfriendly.We are also affected. More infos below.

🌍🚨 Invitation to Join the Launch of the Monitoring and Early Warning Mechanism for Civil Society! We are excited to announce the launch of the EU SEE initiative—a powerful tool to help civil society organizations address challenges and leverage opportunities worldwide. 🌐 📅 Date: 29th January 2025 🕒 Time: 9 AM to 1 PM (SAST) 🔗 Register now: https://lnkd.in/eXuuUX3h Together, let’s strengthen the enabling environment for civil society! 🌱 #CivSociety #EUSEE #EarlyWarning #Monitoring #CivilSocietyInitiative 🌍🚨 Invitation à rejoindre le lancement du Mécanisme de Suivi et d'Alerte Précoce pour la Société Civile ! Nous sommes ravis d'annoncer le lancement de l'initiative EU SEE, un outil puissant pour aider les organisations de la société civile à relever les défis et à saisir les opportunités dans le monde entier. 🌐 📅 Date : 29 janvier 2025 🕒 Heure : 9h à 13h (SAST) 🔗 Inscrivez-vous maintenant :https://lnkd.in/eXuuUX3h Ensemble, renforçons l'environnement favorable à la société civile ! 🌱 #SociétéCivile #EUSEE #AlertePrécoce #Suivi #InitiativeSociétéCivile 🌍🚨 ¡Invitación al lanzamiento del Mecanismo de Monitoreo y Alerta Temprana para la Sociedad Civil! Nos complace anunciar el lanzamiento de la iniciativa EU SEE, una herramienta poderosa para ayudar a las organizaciones de la sociedad civil a abordar desafíos y aprovechar oportunidades a nivel global. 🌐 📅 Fecha: 29 de enero de 2025 🕒 Hora: 9 AM a 1 PM (SAST) 🔗 Regístrate ahora: https://lnkd.in/eXuuUX3h ¡Juntos y juntas, fortalezcamos el entorno habilitante para la sociedad civil! 🌱 #SociedadCivil #EUSEE #AlertaTemprana #Monitoreo #IniciativaSociedadCivil 🌍🚨 Convite para o lançamento do Mecanismo de Monitoramento e Alerta Precoce para a Sociedade Civil! Temos o prazer de anunciar o lançamento da iniciativa EU SEE, uma ferramenta poderosa para ajudar as organizações da sociedade civil a enfrentar desafios e aproveitar oportunidades globalmente. 🌐 📅 Data: 29 de janeiro de 2025 🕒 Horário: 9h às 13h (SAST) 🔗 Registre-se agora: https://lnkd.in/eXuuUX3h Hivos CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation Transparency International

🌍 Join us for the launch of the European Union System for an Enabling Environment for Civil Society (#EUSEE) in Johannesburg on January 29, 2025 (in person or online). The EU SEE is designed to document changes and shed light on trends in the enabling environment for #civilsociety across 86 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. At its core are: 🔹 An interactive digital hub to monitor and document real-time changes, deteriorations or improvements 🔹 Support mechanisms to address challenges and opportunities 🔹 Advocacy actions to respond to early signs of restrictions or improvements For our global coalition there's one thing clear: An environment where civil society can thrive, express itself freely and actively engage is essential. 📅 Join us at the launch on January 29, 2025 💻 Register here: https://lnkd.in/eXuuUX3h CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Democracy Reporting International, European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), Forus and Transparency International

📣 Last chance to apply! - we are looking for an IT service provider for the expansion and maintenance of our IT landscape ASAP! Services required: 📨 IT support via e-mail, on site and remotely in coordination with our in-house support 🤝 Ensuring the operation in terms of backup, access management and IT security 🔒 Updating and plausibility check of the security solutions deployed 🛠️ Installation, configuration and administration of hardware & software Qualifications: 🟢 Be a company or a consultant duly established in Berlin, Germany 🟢 Have recent experience with successfully performing similar services 🟢 Key personnel with at least five-year experience in information technology and development 🟢 Fluency in German and English Deadline to apply is 31 January, don’t miss it!➡️ https://bit.ly/40G4xx1

We are still buzzing with energy and inspiration from the Political Tech Summit! 🔋 ⚡ It was a privilege to join this vibrant community of tech entrepreneurs, academics, politicians, and political professionals exploring how technology can strengthen democratic politics. The notion that much is broken in our democratic systems lingered all around us. Yet all participants showed a resounding commitment to using tech, as well as their skills and expertise toward fixing what's broken. Events like this provide a fantastic platform for democratic forces to share knowledge and collaborate on solutions. A big shoutout to the Political Tech Summit team, who made this possible, especially to Josef Lentsch and Benjamin Laepple. Thanks for the great partnership! We were happy to contribute with a masterclass on social media monitoring led by our Francesca Giannaccini and Oksana Tarapatova, who introduced the audience to our signature methodology. Here's what they shared: ➡️ The role of social media in shaping political discourse ➡️ A glimpse into our unique social media monitoring methodology and a walkthrough into the research design process. ➡️ How we train organisations to adapt our research to their specific contexts. ➡️ Methods to identify and categorise online threats and legal violations, such as hate speech, gendered violence and disinformation. Interested in learning more? Check the useful resources below! 🛠️ Our toolkit: https://bit.ly/3WAwow9 🎓 Our course: https://bit.ly/3BaRIAE Many thanks to those who engaged in thought-provoking conversations with us! 🤝  Tomas Rakos Francesca Scapolo Friedrich Enders Natália Fritzen Konrad Buck Peter Dudič Vermon Washington Gabor Hollbeck Basile Verhulst Carolina Oliviero Janek Gulbis Pius Fozan Natalya Dapkiene

The EU AI Act, now in force, is shaping the future of artificial intelligence governance. In this video, our researcher Francesca Giannaccini breaks down: 📜 the European Act’s new approach to categorising AI systems based on risks, 🤖 chatbots and the new rules designed to address their potential risks, ⁉️ and the controversies surrounding these regulations. With AI being used in areas like public benefits, crime prevention, and visa applications, the AI Act is set to reshape how governments and authorities use AI in decision-making. This groundbreaking legislation will influence innovation and governance as AI adoption grows across all sectors. 🎥Watch now to explore how this first-of-its-kind regulation is setting the global standard for AI! 🤝🏽 Agência Lupa FGV Brazil FGV Comunicação Rio with support from the European Union in Brazil

💥 We are thrilled about the buzz surrounding tomorrow's Political Tech Summit! It is shaping up to be a great event exploring the intersection of politics and tech. If you are attending, don't miss our master class by Oksana Tarapatova & Francesca Giannaccini on the potential of social media monitoring to detect violations in the online space -> 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐭 𝐕𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 Already have a ticket? Secure your spot in the masterclass here: https://lnkd.in/dG2JjD6H We'd love to see you there! 🙌 P.S: We’ll also have a space in the exhibitor area, so feel free to drop by and learn more about what we do 👀

How accessible is social media data for researchers?🚦 Our latest Data Access Scoreboard offers a detailed ranking of how platforms enable - or restrict - access to the data researchers need to analyse public discourse. Key insights: ✔️ Platforms are improving in making more data points available, but... ⚙️ Vetting processes are becoming increasingly restrictive and complex. Some platforms, like YouTube and TikTok, score high on content-related data accessibility but have stringent vetting processes. Others, like Telegram, make it relatively less complex for researchers to gain entry. While this update sheds light on availability and processes, one critical area remains unaddressed: the quality and consistency of data provided. Perhaps a topic for our future investigations. Explore the full scoreboard: https://lnkd.in/dtZYJiT2 Stiftung Mercator GmbH