Looking at the 'Status Quo of the Internet in 2026' puts our hopes for a democratic and livable digitally networked society to the test: Many large platforms are run by men with an authoritarian mindset, as are many governments, and countless users are exposed to hate, disinformation and other forms of digital violence, while the EU's regulatory instruments such as the Digital Services Act are only inadequately applied and violations are not effectively sanctioned.At the same time, numerous projects and organizations that work against anti-democratic and violent structures and practices are in a precarious financial situation.
We are taking a stand against this with our specialist conference #RECLAIM THE DIGITAL on October 7th:
Our motto #RECLAIM THE DIGITAL stands
for a SO NOT,
for a DESPITE THAT,
for a WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER and
for a democratic TONESHIFT in (post-)digital societies!
With the specialist conference, we are creating a space for a strong, trans-sectoral civil society association of organizations and committed people who work against online hate and disinformation through their work in various social fields and with various actors: media and journalism, education, research and monitoring, prevention and intervention, advice and information, politics, authorities and administration, platforms and companies.
We want to talk about it together:
- How can we help ensure that democracy and diversity in the digital world are considered 'sexy' again?
- How can democratic voices become louder again so that hate speech becomes the exception again?
- How can media and information trust as well as reflected media criticism of problematic dynamics be promoted at the same time?
- How can public pressure be built up so that regulation is not only tightened up, but violations are also consistently sanctioned?
- Which Internet do we want?And much more!
