Phineo Startups Democracy Crisis Innovation Accelerator

Democracies are fighting for their lives. Why? For the first time since 2004, there are more autocratic than democratic states in the world. Right-wing populist parties are on the rise around the world, while voter turnout is falling, trust in political systems and the press is declining, and fake news are on the rise. As if that wasn’t enough, digital technologies have created new challenges for democracies. We see filter bubbles, where social media algorithms only show users content that confirms their point of view, often accompanied by manipulation and the spread of misinformation on social media. In addition, large technology companies have disproportionate power and use it for targeted manipulation and surveillance. Finally, artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT can do great harm in the wrong hands.

But: If technology is part of the problem, it is also part of the solution!