At the high-level “Democracy Always” summit in Santiago, Chile on 21 July, the presidents of Chile, Brazil, Spain, Uruguay, and Colombia pledged to advance a shared agenda to tackle disinformation and protect democracy. One key commitment: promoting international cooperation on algorithmic transparency and data governance—an initiative highlighted in contributions by OBSERVACOM, a partner and founding member of the Forum on Information and Democracy
OBSERVACOM was among the invited think tanks contributing expert insights to the “Democracy Always” summit convened in Santiago, Chile on 21 July. The summit brought together progressive leaders to address urgent threats to democracy, particularly the spread of deliberate disinformation and its consequences.
Presidents Gabriel Boric (Chile), Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva (Brazil), Yamandú Orsi (Uruguay), Gustavo Petro (Colombia), and Pedro Sánchez (Spain) participated in a working lunch with about 30 specially invited guests, including prominent intellectuals and researchers such as economists Joseph Stiglitz and Ha-Joon Chang, philosophers Daniel Innerarity and Susan Neiman, and scholars Anya Schiffrin, Daniela Campello, Jeanette Hofmann, and Pablo Stefanoni.
One of the key proposals, raised by OBSERVACOM during the meeting, was reflected in the summit’s final declaration: the need for “international collaboration to ensure algorithmic and data governance transparency in the digital environment, and technical cooperation for democratic digital governance.” This line of action stands out as a critical path forward for defending democratic institutions in the age of global platforms.
The summit also announced that Mexico, France, Honduras, the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Australia, and South Africa will join the founding countries—Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, and Spain—in this new international effort to safeguard democracy in the digital age.