In the run-up to the June 2024 European elections, the EESC organised the first edition of its Civil Society Week, a dynamic gathering of diverse stakeholders aimed at shaping Europe's future. As a frontrunner civic tech focused on democracy, Make.org was invited to contribute with its expertise to discussions centred on safeguarding elections in an era where the rise of AI and new technologies poses challenges to democratic systems globally. The workshop featured a panel of diverse experts including Marilyn Neven from International IDEA, Vassilis Ntsousas from the German Marshall Fund, Julie Majerczak from Reporters Without Borders, and Arno Pons from Digital New Deal. The discussion was moderated by the journalist Souwie Buis, with Axel Dauchez, co-founder and president of Make.org, initiating the conversation.
Axel Dauchez took the floor to open the discussion by presenting Make.org’s newest initiative: the Democratic Shield, a set of actions for institutions and civil society, constructed with a special Task Force, aimed at protecting the 2024 European Parliament elections from AI-generated and technological threats. He emphasised the pressing importance of shielding democratic processes from AI-driven risks, reinforcing election integrity and outlined key measures included in the Democratic Shield aimed at addressing these critical challenges.
“We are at war. We can discuss whether we are at war as belligerents in Ukraine but, definitely, on the information field, we are at war. It’s an intense war: we are attacked, very frequently, not only from Russia, but sometimes from other countries, internal and external stakeholders, which are using the informational war, within the ‘hybrid war’ concept, to attack the legitimacy of the next European elections.”
This introduction was followed by an enlightening discussion led by Souwie Buis, exploring methods for safeguarding democracy.
Vassilis Ntsousas initiated the exchange by underscoring four key observations illuminating the heightened risk posed by AI for the European elections: 2024 marks a historic election year, election interference is increasingly lucrative for malicious actors due to their heightened significance and the relatively low costs to impact the results, the advent of AI exacerbates threats to elections, and rapid changes are already underway.
“AI risks adding fuel to a fire that has already begun under our very eyes”
Julie Majerczak introduced the Journalism Trust Initiative, a framework spearheaded by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) that engages more than 1000 media outlets across 80 countries, aligning closely with Action 5 of the Democratic Shield. This initiative focuses on establishing and implementing criteria for assessing the credibility of journalism, advocating for adherence to professional standards and ethics while incentivizing and recognizing compliance.
“One way to combat disinformation is to promote reliable sources of information and that’s why we created this Journalism Trust Initiative”.
Marilyn Neven showcased the efforts of International IDEA in developing a Code of Conduct for Political Parties, mirroring Action 4 of the Democratic Shield. This initiative holds significant relevance in the electoral sphere, as its signatories pledge to uphold transparency regarding their online political advertising practices, refrain from generating or disseminating misleading content, and openly disclose their use of AI-generated material.
“At the EU level, regulating political parties and elections is mostly a national competence. The EU can only do as much and therefore, seen over the past years that the EU has stretched its reach, with initiatives such as the DSA, regulations on transparency and targeting online political advertising, the Artificial Intelligence Act, the Media Freedom Act, you see that the EU is entering this area of defending the integrity of elections.”
Finally, Arno Pons, of Digital New Deal, concluded the discussion by stressing the pivotal moment we're in, with technology empowering anti-democratic forces through cyber interference. He highlighted leveraging both Artificial and Collective Intelligence to counter threats, emphasising the need for transparent advertising AI regulation to safeguard democracy's core.
"We are at a turning point. Mastering AI means mastering social media and therefore influencing elections.”
Watch the replay of the conference: