Democratic by Design: Implementing and Innovating Democracy-Affirming Technologies

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The emergence of critical new technologies, from quantum information tools to Artificial Intelligence (AI), has ushered in a new digital era. While these technologies promise greater efficiency and innovation to the benefit of society, if misused they can also help entrench repression and autocratic control. What is needed instead is a positive, rights-respecting vision of democratic innovation. GMF’s AI and Democracy programming, including its 2024 Elections Content Credentials Repository and 2024 AI and Democracy Hackathon, aimed to advance the development, use, and public understanding of democracy-affirming technologies (DATs)—that is, technologies that are intentionally designed to protect and promote democratic values. This report features insights from two pilot projects aimed at advancing the implementation of existing DATs and the innovation of new ones.

Key insights include:

• The current innovation landscape often operates as a “black box”, but DATs are a proactive and innovation-forward alternative placing privacy, transparency, and accountability at the core of engineering decisions—not simply aftermarket considerations. 

• Both the private and public sectors have already begun to embrace the implementation and innovation of DATs. For example, the Content Authenticity Initiative has grown to 3,700 members, and camera manufacturers such as Nikon, Fujifilm, and Leica have integrated content authentication. Content Credentials are now on track for adoption as an International Organization for Standardization standard.

• Existing media industry equipment can be made compatible with DAT technologies through a choice of solutions.

• Thoughtful product design can transform existing technologies so they have democracy-affirming impacts. One hackathon prototype used facial recognition technology, which can advance autocratic ends, to scan the Internet for deepfakes targeting users. 

Policy recommendations:

GMF Technology developed recommendations aimed at policymakers, technology firms, news media, and philanthropies around how to implement and innovate DATs through financial support, research and development, and policymaking. These recommendations include:

• Online platforms and websites, from newsrooms to social media sites, should incorporate existing democracy-affirming tools into products and new product design.
• Government agencies, private sector champions, philanthropic organizations and universities should create DAT research scholarships to spur the innovation of new DATs among next-generation scientists and engineers.
• Governments should work with technology providers and the hacker community to red-team emerging DATs and identify vulnerabilities to refine existing tools.
• Philanthropies, policymakers, and technology firms should support the creation of DAT documentation and trainings as well as new initiatives to expand DAT deployment beyond base use cases.
• Governments should provide guidance on the use of DATs, with an emphasis on how implementation advances cyber and national security.