PEN International is proud to join the civil society coalition on Information and Democracy launched by the Forum on Information and Democracy on 20^th September 2021.

The Initiative on Information and Democracy, which aims at implementing democratic safeguards in the information and communication space, is vital for online human rights and for the future of democratic public deliberation.

We, organizations committed to defending the exercise of freedom of expression and opinion, both online and offline, have decided to participate in this process to put forward civil society proposals. We act independently of the interests of private companies and political powers.

The Forum on Information and Democracy makes policy recommendations based on contributions from experts, researchers, intellectuals, and organizations around the world. In the future, we intend to play a role in defining and implementing them.

The success of our endeavor lies in this fine balance between the role of states in adopting and enforcing democratic norms, and the role of civil society in contributing with ideas and external analysis.

On the occasion of the first Summit for Information and Democracy, we call on the signatory states to work with the Forum on Information and Democracy and our civil society coalition in implementing policy recommendations.

List of signatories:

Africa Freedom of Information Centre

Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University

CyberPeace Institute

DataLeads

Defend Democracy

Derechos Digitales

Digimar Institute

Freedom House

Freedom of Information Center

Fundación Ciudadanía Inteligente

Fundación Ciudadanía y Desarrollo

Fundación Karisma

Global Disinformation Index

Global Forum for Media Development

Global Partners Digital

Globe International Center

Gulf Centre for Human Rights

Internet lab

Internews

Intervozes

JONCTION

Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka

JustNetCoalition

Maharat

National Union of Journalists of Philippines

New Narratives

PEN International

Ranking Digital Rights

Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales

Samir Kassir Foundation

World Movement for Democracy