Brittany Curley

Digital Action brings people and ideas together to strengthen democracy in a digital age. Democracy and human rights can thrive in the digital age, but only if we work together to ensure it is the people writing the rules, not unaccountable Big Tech. These companies, with staggering power and little accountability, are reshaping the way democracies work, simply to boost their advertising revenues. The rise to dominance of certain business practices, from irresponsible data gathering to inscrutable algorithms, threatens and erodes democratic rights. The result is a democratic experience, particularly online, that is toxic and unreliable, inflaming divisions and intensifying inequalities. These threats – to marginalised communities, to human rights defenders, to free and fair elections, freedom of expression, the rule of law and the right to a private life – are challenging the institutions meant to protect democracy. But we are not powerless in this. Together, we can build a new era of accountability. Such a movement is already beginning. It is being led by citizens, activists, public servants, technologists, academics and journalists, all looking to hold platform companies to account and reshape the digital world so that it sustains and strengthens democracy for future generations. Digital Action’s contribution Our contribution is to help people work together, unleashing the collective power and ingenuity we need to make change happen. We work as a catalyst and convenor in support of those fighting for reform. Our contribution is not to be the experts or the spokespeople: it is to unlock collaboration: we build coalitions that reveal digital threats and act to address the factors allowing them to proliferate. We make connections across sectors and between local activists and global policy debates. We ensure there is a powerful civil society voice in policy discussions, informed by a long-term view of how individual efforts can snowball to systemic change. We work on a simple premise that we can achieve more together than we can alone. We are committed to serving the movement, working behind the scenes as an honest broker to achieve collective change. Learning from the model adopted by Crisis Action in the area of humanitarian response, we do not seek public profile for ourselves, instead we focus on the changes we can help drive. We work in three main ways: We help tell stories which highlight the urgency. We ensure decision-makers are aware of the real harm done to real people. We shift power towards marginalised communities harmed by the status quo to ensure they have the platforms to share their stories, make the case for change, and inspire new allies to join the movement. We support civil society to develop, test, and share bold ideas to strengthen democracy and human rights for the digital age. We catalyse the hard, collaborative work of designing policy and product responses, then get the work into the hands of those making decisions about our democracies. We coordinate campaigns which help the community seize moments of opportunity. Bringing together disparate - and sometimes opposed - areas of civil society, to act together with shared purpose and set radical precedents.