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By SUZANNE LYNCH
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HEJ from sunny Denmark, where the final day of the Copenhagen Democracy Summit gets underway this morning. Delegates spilled out onto the streets around the conference venue last night, joining locals soaking up the summer vibe in Copenhagen’s outdoor eateries and watering holes.
We’ll have what he’s having: But no one had as much fun as Antony Blinken did in Kyiv. The U.S. secretary of state showed off his impressive guitar skills as he jammed in an underground bar in the Ukrainian capital last night. He played Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World,” for those playing along at home.
GETTING THE WEST’S HOUSE IN ORDER: Now, back to Copenhagen, where the focus today turns to disinformation. With all the talk of the dangers posed by autocratic regimes, established democracies in the West are facing their own demons. After all, it was in the land of the free — the United States — where some refused to accept the results of a democratic election and stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Getting ahead of the problem: With more than half the world’s population going to the polls this year, the issue of election integrity has never felt so urgent. Playbook spoke to some of those involved in the fight against election fraud.
TAIWAN GETS TOUGH ON DISINFO
TAIPEI’S PERSPECTIVE: Taiwan knows a thing or two about fighting the infowars. It regularly tops the list of countries dealing with false information and outside electoral interference. “This has been happening for quite a while. It is not new for us,” said Taiwan’s Digital Minister Audrey Tang, who will address the forum today.
In particular, Tang cited Taiwan’s election this January, when doctored videos alleging ballot rigging went viral as votes were being counted.
Taking back control: “The difference now is that we’ve learned how to overcome it,” Tang told Playbook. “What’s crucial is pre-empting information manipulation before it reaches people. It requires understanding the overarching narratives the attackers use — for example, that democracy never delivers, or that democratic processes are corrupt. We then tell people these narratives are going to surface. Ideally people will get the real information before they receive the misinformation.”
You get 1 hour: One way the Taiwanese government has tried to get ahead of the problem is by requiring ministries to produce a debunking or clarification within 60 minutes of viral disinformation being detected.
Showing them how it’s done: Back in 2022, Tang released a deepfake video of an actor portraying the minister, as a way of warning against false activity. “Anyone can fake a likeness or a voice. The point is that people should be aware of this.”
Teach ’em when they’re young: Schools are also teaching students how to participate in grassroots collaborative efforts, like shared databases, to counter disinformation. “We have found that it’s not the checked facts that inoculates people, it is the act of going through the fact-checking process, understanding the framing effect — really adopting a journalistic mindset — that inoculates people.”
EUROPE ON ALERT
GUARDING AGAINST INTERFERENCE: With millions of Europeans heading to the polls in three weeks’ time to elect 720 members of the European Parliament, the EU is on high alert for election falsehoods. As POLITICO has reported, Europe has seen a surge in disinformation and alleged Russian interference ahead of the election, being held June 6-9.
Given the European Parliament’s track record when it comes to outside meddling (see: Qatargate) the worries are justified.
First out of the traps: European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen used her appearance at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit Tuesday to promise a new “European Democracy Shield” if she’s reappointed for a second term. The plan would see Brussels establish a new disinformation unit to share analysis between national agencies.
Coalition of the willing: Meanwhile, the likelihood of a rightward tilt in the next European Parliament seems closer than ever. Tuesday’s panel featuring three MEPs from across the political spectrum — Lídia Pereira, Michiel Hoogeveen and Morten Løkkegaard — saw little pushback against the notion that the center-right political group, the European People’s Party, might do a deal with those who are further to the right in the Parliament.
Preparing the ground: Similarly, European Council President Charles Michel warned against “doom-mongering” as the EU braces for a possible rightward surge in the election. His message in Copenhagen on Tuesday was that Europe has managed to work with different national leaders around the European Council table (aka Hungary’s Viktor Orbán) and it’s the policies that matter. “I sincerely thing that the next European Parliament will be a very strong defender of support for Ukraine and the rule of law,” he said. Let’s hope so.
DRAGONS’ DEN, DANISH STYLE
ROLL UP, ROLL UP: Tech entrepreneurs from Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and Armenia will present their wares to a judging panel today as they showcase their work on the main stage. Among the judges are producers from Denmark’s “Dragons’ Den” and Sweden’s equivalent of “Shark Tank,” while delegates can vote for their favorites via the Copenhagen Democracy Summit app.
Making their pitch: The democracy tech fellows, who’ve been working with the Alliance of Democracies and plugging into the Danish start-up scene, are immersed in projects seeking to tap the positive side of technology.
GEORGIA ON MY MIND: Ahead of today’s event, I spoke with Giorgi Gogua, a Georgian citizen and co-founder of Project 64, an explanatory journalism project. Gogua’s the man of the hour: As we spoke on Tuesday, Georgian MPs approved a Russia-inspired plan to brand hundreds of NGOs and media outlets as foreign agents, amid growing domestic dissent and condemnation from the U.S. and EU.
Tracking the slide: The project is “basically a propaganda keyword counter,” Gogua explained. “We started monitoring the propaganda messages from the government and their allies during last year’s attempt to introduce a foreign agents bill, and we found some repetitive words, phrases like ‘total war party’ or ‘second front.’ It was part of a pattern where it’s obvious that this government was trying to eliminate political voices that think differently.”
Realpolitik: A year on, the need for independent, non-government aligned scrutiny in Georgia is needed more than ever. The country’s ruling Georgian Dream party is now “copying the same thing that is happening in Russia and other like-minded countries,” said Gogua. “NGOs and independent media are effectively blacklisted. It’s extremely serious.”
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SEEN AND HEARD
PHOTOBOMB RISK: The glorious sunshine has lifted spirits at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit — and encouraged some more risqué behavior. Topless sunbathers flocked to the water near the Playhouse Tuesday, but were kept well out of the frame of the official photos of the event, which captured speakers arriving at the venue.
NOT MY LEADER: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan may have arrived in Copenhagen with one of the biggest entourages, but he faced formidable competition from a group of protesters demonstrating outside the Playhouse on Tuesday as delegates were checking in.
Their beef: “He’s coming here to talk about democracy but he does everything against democracy in Armenia,” protester Lilit Sahakyan told POLITICO of the Armenian leader. “That’s why we’re here — to protest against him and to say that he doesn’t represent the Armenian people. He has created a police state in Armenia.” (Background: Armenian police arrested demonstrators this week who were protesting against Pashinyan’s talks with Azerbaijan.)
SHOW ME THE WEAPONS: Ukraine’s Andriy Yermak, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, brushed off questions about growing discontent about troop mobilization in an interview with Anne McElvoy. Instead, he pivoted to the need for more arms and ammo. “If we have enough weapons, we will have enough people,” he said.
AXIS OF AUTHORITARIANISM: With discussion of Russia and China dominating debate at the summit, Swedish MEP David Lega raised a question: What about Iran? I worry that we are seeing a segmentation, that Europe will only focus on Russia, that the U.S. will only focus on China and everyone will forget about Iran. Regardless of the election outcome in the United States, we need to make sure that we strengthen the transatlantic link and treat these three threats together — they work together, so why shouldn’t we,” he told POLITICO.
EU TOP JOBS CHATTER: As speculation intensifies about who’s in the running for top jobs after next month’s EU election, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen ruled herself out of the race to succeed Charles Michel as European Council president. “No, I’m the Danish prime minister,” she told a swarm of journalists on arrival to the summit, responding to a question from POLITICO’s Cristina Gonzalez.
OPENAI UPDATE: In hot news just out, Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s co-founder and chief scientist, has left the company six months after his failed coup against CEO Sam Altman (who was, as regular Playbookers would know, the toast of the global set at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos).
NOT COPENHAGEN, BUT … Global Playbook is quite struck by the first official painted portrait of Britain’s King Charles III since his coronation, unveiled at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday. It’s by Jonathan Yeo, who has also painted Tony Blair, David Attenborough and Malala Yousafzai, the BBC reports. Queen Camilla apparently told Yeo: “Yes, you’ve got him.” Judge for yourself here.
DANISH DELIGHTS
ALL GETTING TOO MUCH? Take five minutes to chill in the HabiCave on display in the Playhouse foyer. Made from up-cycled PET bottles, this piece of Danish furniture — part armchair, part cubby hole — is billed as a place for a “mental reload” which reduces background noise and “sensory bombardments.”
DANISH DELICACIES: Make sure to sample the slow-crafted Bülow chocolate-coated liquorice on offer at the summit. It’s a Nordic favorite — but let’s just say an acquired taste for some.
TAKE TO THE WATER: We all know Danes put the rest of us to shame when it comes to climate-conscious modes of transport like cycling. But there’s another favored option in the Danish capital: the harbor bus. The distinctive yellow water taxis shuttle between some of Copenhagen’s best-known sites, like the Royal Library and Teglholmen.
BEEN THERE, GOT THE T-SHIRT: Members of the Global Democracy Coalition have been sporting distinctive #ThankyouDemocracy T-shirts throughout the conference, even bagging snaps with Ursula von der Leyen and other political celebs.
The alliance of more than 120 organizations launched a new campaign Tuesday, led by Club de Madrid, with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. It seeks to encourage a more positive narrative around democracy, particularly for young people.
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AGENDA
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: Playbook has curated a selection of today’s top events. Keep an eye out for POLITICO’s Anne McElvoy, Gordon Repinski, Mark Scott and yours truly — we’ll be chairing a number of the sessions.
Watch all the livestreamed panels here … Full agenda.
— 8:45 a.m. The Risks and Opportunities for Generative AI for Democracy; breakfast briefing (invite only).
— 9: 30 a.m. Opening of Day 2, with moderator Jeanne Meserve, host of the NatSec Tech Podcast, and POLITICO’s Suzanne Lynch.
— 9:35 a.m. Freedom and the Global Technology Rivalry, with Chair of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation Anders Fogh Rasmussen and POLITICO’s Mark Scott.
— 9:55 a.m. Biorisk and Democratic Preparedness, featuring Rasmus Bech Hansen, founder and CEO of Airfinity.
— 10:05 a.m. Restoring our Digital Freedom with Audrey Tang, minister of digital affairs of Taiwan (virtual) and freedom activist Leopoldo Lopez, national coordinator of Voluntad Popular and co-founder of the World Liberty Congress.
— 11 a.m. Democracy Tech Entrepreneur Program. Features Ana Toklikishvili of Vinici, Anton Tarasyuk of Mantis Analytics, Ariadna Dron of Marmoris, Dmytro Bilash of Osavul, Giorgi Gogua of Project 64, Mariam Akhalkatsi of GenderBarometer, Viktor Nestulia, head of DREAM project office.
— 12 p.m. The Global Tech Race: Lessons from Finland, with former Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin in conversation with POLITICO’s Anne McElvoy.
— 12:20 p.m. AI, Deepfakes, Year of Elections and what to do about it. Features Sanna Marin, European Commission Vice President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová, Google’s Annette Kroeber-Riel, Microsoft’s Ginny Badanes, moderated by POLITICO’s Mark Scott.
— 12.50 p.m. Closing remarks by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Jeanne Meserve and Suzanne Lynch.
— 1 p.m. Future of Election Integrity Roundtable (invite-only). Andrew Dwyer of the U.K. Offensive Cyber Working Group, Google’s Annette Kroeber-Riel, Open Dialogue Foundation President Lyudmyla Kozlovska, Microsoft’s Nanna-Louise Linde and Peter Erben, principal adviser at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
FINAL WORD
AND THAT’S A WRAP: You’ll receive a special edition of Global Playbook next week, in which we’ll wrap up the Copenhagen Democracy Summit and preview our next pop-up newsletter, coming to you from Singapore’s IISS Shangri-La Dialogue — one of Asia’s premier defense shindigs.
THANKS: Global Playbook couldn’t happen without Global Playbook Editor Zoya Sheftalovich.
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