Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live under authoritarianism?

Many don’t need to imagine. Today, 72% of the world’s population lives under autocratic rule.

Here’s what it looks like: journalists and activists targeted by smear campaigns, civil society tracked and silenced through surveillance, human rights organisations branded as “foreign agents” and cut off from funding, and democracy defenders killed for standing up for their rights.

Living in that 28% is what allowed the EPD network, alongside other civil society organisations, to help shape the European Democracy Shield — pushing for a more ambitious framework, including its extension to EU candidate countries. The Shield has not yet passed its final vote, and a lot remains to be done.

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Being born into the 28% isn’t the finish line for the EPD network. It’s the reason to protect democracy from those who want to harm it.

62% of people globally say it’s becoming harder to know what’s true online.

A single social media post showing false information may seem harmless, but together, they undermine your freedom of expression, access to reliable information, and right to free and fair elections.

A healthier online space is not about controlling what people can say. It is about making platforms accountable and protecting people’s ability to access reliable information and participate in democratic life.

Until the online space is truly safe and democratic, the work of organisations like Penplusbytes are essential. During Ghana’s 2024 elections, Penplusbytes used AI to detect 38 cases of election-related disinformation and reduced the time needed to respond to false claims from 4 hours to just 47 minutes.

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The EPD network works to protect the online space from disinformation, because democracy should not depend on who controls the narrative.

More than 19,000 cases of pro-Kremlin disinformation have been documented across Europe.

When companies advertise, they don’t just buy market visibility. They also help shape which media outlets can thrive — and, ultimately, the information environment we all rely on.

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Serbian civil society organisations BFMI and CRTA identified TV Happy as one of the country’s leading sources of pro-Kremlin disinformation. Lidl subsequently stopped advertising on the channel.

When civil society has the freedom to investigate, expose evidence and speak out, change becomes possible.

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The EPD network gives civil society the tools to protect democratic debate and challenge practices that can harm it.