Our Story
From visionary principles to the impact of a global network, the Forum has built a unique architecture bringing together governments, civil society and researchers for a democratic information space.
Taking back control of our informational spaces
What's wrong?
In the span of two decades, democratic societies have delegated part of the management of their information ecosystems to private companies.
The CEOs and owners of these platforms have accumulated a level of power capable of destabilizing a state, an election, or a democratic process. A concentration of informational power unlike anything democracies have ever experienced.
In a historic shift, code has become law, stripping parliaments of their role in writing the rules meant to protect the informational space, and denying the justice system the ability to enforce them.
Journalism — a true pillar of trust in democratic societies — is one of the first collateral victims of this new reality.
Why is this a problem?
In these new spaces, lies and propaganda from authoritarian states spread faster than journalistic and scientific content. Facts have given way to rumors.
Access to reliable, pluralistic, and independent information is no longer guaranteed, even as more and more citizens get their news online. Yet access to facts remains a prerequisite for any functioning democracy. It is also essential for humanity’s ability to address the major challenges of our century.
Finally, the inaction of platforms has, in the worst cases, led to endangerment of civilian populations, ethnic clashes, and the spillover of online violence into the offline world.
How to solve the problem?
To address all of these challenges, the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) launched the International Initiative on Information and Democracy in 2018. This initiative is built on three pillars: a set of principles, a coalition of democratic countries, and a mechanism for implementation.
Seventy-five years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this initiative begins with the definition of new principles for the global information and communication space.
Backed from the outset by 11 heads of state and government, these principles would go on to inspire the International Partnership on Information and Democracy, officially launched by France and its partners in September 2019.
To support the implementation of this framework, RSF and 10 other NGOs and research centers established the Forum on Information and Democracy in November 2019, with the mandate to translate these high-level principles into concrete policy recommendations and action.
Our methodology
The FID is the continuation of the dialectic between civil society (the Commission) and the PID States (the Partnership).
An interface between expertise and action
Its methodology is based on its ability to create interfaces between producers of expertise and democratic states wishing to implement the principles of the PID.
Bringing communities together
At the intersection of journalism and internet governance, the Forum has always aimed to bring different communities together. Today, we are going further by reaching out to groups working on climate issues, gender equality, etc.
All this around a clear mandate
- Evaluating: the means, norms and architectures of the global information and communication space;
- Investigating: corporate entities’ behaviour as regards adherence to the principles of the Declaration and Partnership;
- Making: recommendations to the different stakeholders that shape this space on how the norms should evolve;
- Facilitating: the emergence of regulatory and self-regulatory responses by and for the different stakeholders;
- Supporting: the social function of journalism through innovative responses and recommendations;
Our assets
Founding members
Initiated by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the creation of the Forum quickly brought together actors from other fields who contribute their expertise and unique perspectives:
- The Open Government Partnership,
- The Digital Rights Foundation,
- The Peace Research Institute Oslo,
- Free Press Unlimited,
- The Center for International Governance Innovation,
- The Human Rights Center at the University of California Berkeley,
- CIVICUS,
- OBSERVACOM,
- The Institute for Strategic Dialogue,
- Research ICT Africa.
An agile permanent secretariat
Based in Paris, the FID’s permanent secretariat coordinates the network and its various communities (explore Our Community). It is composed of:
Camille Grenier
Katharina Zuegel
Emma Gruden
Laila Lorenzon
Beatriz Piloto
Lou Terzian
Gyan Prakash Tripathi
Our community and partners
The FID would also like to thank its financial partners:
Agence Française de Développement
Ford Foundation
Future of Life Institute
Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires Etrangères (France)
Ministère des Affaires Etrangères et Européennes (Luxembourg)
Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires Etrangères (France)
Svenska postkodlotteriets Stiftelse
National Endowment for Democracy
Want to support the Forum?
The Forum on Information and Democracy welcomes contributions from all stakeholders working on shaping a democratic information space.
