EPDE hosted a roundtable at RightsCon 2025 in Taipei, Taiwan

“For every autocratic move, tireless human rights defenders innovate, unite, and hold governments accountable. Our task is to stay ahead, stay connected, never give in.” – these words by a human rights defender at a lightning talk encapsulate the spirit of RightsCon 2025, which took place February 24-27, 2025 in Taipei

The European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE) joined over 2,800 participants from 155 countries at this leading global summit on digital rights and democracy, and contributed a roundtable on technology in election observation. With more than 550 sessions, the conference provided a comprehensive platform to discuss pressing issues such as disinformation, Foreign Information Manipulation & Interference (FIMI), and digital disenfranchisement.  

Roundtable: Domestic Election Observation – Leveraging Technology for Election Integrity

EPDE hosted a roundtable on technology in election observation, exploring innovative approaches to safeguard democratic processes. The discussion highlighted several groundbreaking tools, including Who Targets Me for monitoring political advertising transparency, observer chatbots for real-time violation reporting, and VoteMonitor, an app successfully deployed in more than a dozen elections across Europe.

Machine learning for real-time footage analysis is emerging as a powerful ally in detecting ballot-stuffing and other irregularities, especially in countries where direct access for election observers is limited. Finally, we examined new methodologies for tracking the intersection of campaigning and privacy, particularly in monitoring political microtargeting and data exploitation.

The discussion sparked exchanges on the challenges of vetting election monitoring tools, ensuring the usability for and reliability of volunteers, and the increasing necessity of holding major tech companies accountable for their role in enabling—or failing to prevent—election manipulation. Participants shared firsthand experiences from Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections, where digital observation tools played a critical role in identifying irregularities.

Key Takeaways: Human Rights & Democracy Defense

The conference underscored several crucial points for defending democracy in the digital age:

1. Global Cooperation is Key – Strengthening networks between election observers and other stakeholder groups can counteract disinformation more effectively. Democracy defenders must integrate insights from different regions. Countries facing similar challenges often develop creative solutions that can be adapted across borders.
2. Pre-Bunking Over Fact-Checking – Traditional fact-checking is proving ineffective against the speed of disinformation. Instead, “pre-bunking”—filling information gaps with facts before malign narratives take hold—was highlighted as a crucial strategy and early warning systems were discussed.
3. Engagement with Tech Platforms – Observers and human rights organizations must develop closer collaborations with social media platforms to push for better responses to disinformation, instruments must be implemented by states to incentivize platforms to comply with legislation like the EU DSA.
4. Disinformation is taking new shapes and form – Political manipulation is increasingly embedded in entertainment content rather than traditional propaganda. Influence tactics combine state-run actors with individual actors, making it hard to identify as Addressing this shift requires new strategies.
5. Core threat: populism in Mainstream Politics – Centre parties are increasingly adopting populist rhetoric, making election observation more challenging and crucial than ever.

Election Observation in the Digital Age

RightsCon 2025 highlighted ongoing digital challenges to election integrity. Foreign actors, including Russia, China, and alarmingly, the current US administration, continue to sow division and distrust in democratic institutions. The timing and virality of malicious narratives, often released just before elections, maximize their impact. Despite reporting efforts, only a fraction (10-30%) of manipulated content is removed from platforms, exacerbating the problem. Post-election narratives also pose a significant threat, with losing parties often amplifying foreign-origin narratives about election fraud, undermining democratic trust. Between 2020 and 2024, one in three elections was disputed, and one in five was not recognized by the losing party or challenged in court

The Crucial Role of Media Literacy and Independent Journalism

Media literacy and education remain critical solutions in combating disinformation. Raising awareness about disinformation tactics empowers voters to navigate political messaging more effectively. Supporting independent journalists and local media initiatives strengthens democratic resilience against foreign and domestic manipulation.

However, the reduction or full suspension in U.S. funding for democracy and media literacy programs could have serious repercussions, as many independent media organizations and fact-checking initiatives rely on these grants to continue their vital work

Looking Forward

RightsCon 2025 reinforced the urgency of international cooperation in defending democratic processes.

EPDE remains committed to pushing for cross-sector collaboration, embracing technological innovation for advancing election integrity, and advocating for stronger safeguards against digital threats to elections. The stakes are high, but through collective action, we can push back against the forces undermining democracy worldwide.