Freedom and Manipulation Inclusive Digital Democracy Personal Data and User Profiling Public Authority
Framework for Democratic AI Governance: Roadmap and recommendations for European policymakers

This policy brief focuses on short-term action (2026-2028) around AI governance and provides practical guidelines for experts and policymakers. It introduces a framework that embeds democratic pillars — participation, freedom, equality, transparency, knowledge, and the rule of law — directly into the entire AI lifecycle.

Effect of Technology:
Bias Democracy Disinformation & Misinformation Epistemic effect Inclusion/Exclusion Law Legitimacy Opacity Polarisation Surveillance
Democratic values:
Equality Fairness Participation Rule of Law Transparency Trust
Format:
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Algorithmic Accountability Critical Digital Citizenship Freedom and Manipulation Personal Data and User Profiling Citizen Civil Society & Democracy Practitioner Industry Public Authority SSH Researcher
Recommendation Algorithms Explainer

The Recommendation Algorithms explainer aims to demonstrate how algorithms work on social media platforms. It allows the users to simulate their experience on a social media platform, where their choices shape a personalised feed.

Effect of Technology:
Autonomy Bias Concentration of Power Culture Epistemic effect Inclusion/Exclusion Individuals Legitimacy Opacity Polarisation Society Surveillance
Democratic values:
Accountability Fairness Pluralism Transparency Trust
Format:
External link
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AI and Culture Citizen Civil Society & Democracy Practitioner Computer Scientist Public Authority SSH Researcher
Module C: Historical perspective – Attention

This section analyses how different knowledge technologies impact people’s attention and, consequently, their decisions regarding which information is worth storing and remembering, and which is instead forgotten or not even registered in the first place.

Effect of Technology:
Bias Culture Epistemic effect Individuals Legitimacy Polarisation
Democratic values:
Deliberation Transparency
Format:
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Civil Society & Democracy Practitioner Public Authority
Designing the Whole Process: Embedding AI Without Undermining Democracy (Recipe from the Digital Democracy Lab Handbook)

This recipe is about designing an entire democratic process—not just the AI tool within it. When AI is introduced into a deliberative setting, the surrounding process needs to change too: not just to make the AI work, but to make sure the democracy works.

Effect of Technology:
Democracy Epistemic effect Inclusion/Exclusion Legitimacy
Democratic values:
Participation Transparency Trust
Format:
External link PDFs
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Critical Digital Citizenship Freedom and Manipulation Citizen Civil Society & Democracy Practitioner Computer Scientist Industry Public Authority SSH Researcher
Risks to individual freedoms of speech and action

Since our liberal democracies generally employ forms of representativeness to their institutions, the impact of AI on free and fair elections is also one of the key ways in which technology affects our polities. The level of acceptance of the results from the elections - the legitimacy of the outcome - rests largely on how those who end up with less power shares in the representative system see the fairness of the election process itself.

Effect of Technology:
Agency Autonomy Bias Disinformation & Misinformation Epistemic effect Inclusion/Exclusion Individuals Polarisation Privacy Society Surveillance
Democratic values:
Accountability Deliberation Equality Fairness Participation Transparency Trust
Format:
PDFs
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