Day 5 of the Warsaw Euro-Atlantic Summer Academy (WEASA) featured a hands-on workshop on “Disinformation, Democracy, and Elections,” led by Jakub Szymik, Founder of CEE Digital Democracy Watch. Participants engaged in practical exercises exploring the mechanics of disinformation campaigns, examined how such operations influence public opinion, and discussed how democratic institutions can strengthen their resilience against evolving digital threats. This year's WEASA took place in person at the College of Europe Natolin campus in Warsaw,…

CEE Democracy Watch (CEEDDW) participated in the European Commission’s public consultation on the “Format, template and technical specifications of the labels and transparency notices of political advertisements.” CEEDDW submitted detailed recommendations to enhance the integrity and effectiveness of political ad labelling systems. The feedback highlighted the need for strict safeguards ensuring labels remain unchanged between account verification and ad broadcast, and stressed that public labels must…

Jakub Szymik, założyciel Fundacji CEE Digital Democracy Watch, był gościem podcastu Euractiv.pl poświęconego cyfrowym zagrożeniom dla demokracji. W rozmowie skomentował, dlaczego Zielony Ład oraz tematy migracyjne stały się priorytetowymi celami kampanii dezinformacyjnych w Polsce i Europie. Podkreślił, że zarówno zagraniczne ośrodki, jak i część polskich polityków, aktywnie wzmacniają antyunijne i polaryzujące przekazy, które docierają do…

Jakub Szymik dla XYZ.pl analizuje możliwe działania rządu i organów Unii Europejskiej związane z działaniem czatbota Grok. "To nie pierwszy raz, kiedy polski rząd rozważa blokowanie narzędzi AI w kontekście treści niepoprawnych politycznie. Na początku 2025 roku, w pierwotnej wersji ustawy wdrażającej Akt o sztucznej inteligencji w Polsce przewidziano, aby nowo powołana Komisja Rozwoju i…

Jakub Szymik, Founder of CEE Digital Democracy Watch, took part in the Visegrad Insight online panel "Electoral Process in Jeopardy? Lessons Learned from Central Europe". The event focused on growing risks to democratic elections in the region, drawing from recent electoral experiences in Poland and Romania, and looking ahead to upcoming votes in countries like Moldova,…

In June 2025 we attended the Ninth Plenary Meeting of the Code of Conduct on Disinformation Task Force, organised by the European Commission on June 18, 2025, in Brussels.

CEE Democracy Watch (CEEDDW) contributed to the European Commission’s consultation on the European Democracy Shield.

In the #185 episode of Social Media and Politics podcast, named How the EU is Shielding Elections from Disinformation, Manipulation, and AI, we discussed the EU’s ongoing initiatives to fight disinformation, regulate political advertising, and protect election integrity on social media. The findings from our latest report about the impact of online regulations on civic society…

As of June 2025, our new report Protecting Digital Civic Space in the EU is available. The report presents findings from meetings with representatives of over 60 civil society organisations, experts, academics, and regulators held in Warsaw, Prague, Budapest, and Bucharest. It explores how European regulatory frameworks will shape the everyday reality of social and political debate…

This week, together with Central European Institute of Asian Studies, we hosted a seminar in Warsaw titled "When China Enters the Chat: Visibility, Reactions, and Narratives in Polish Social Media.", gathering a diverse pool of diplomats, think tank experts, academics, and representatives of state institutions. The discussion started with a presentation of the results from…

In the article "Digital Lessons from Poland’s Election: Permanent Campaign, Permanent Manipulation", Jakub Szymik and Krzysztof Izdebski analyse the evolution of digital campaigning. They demonstrate that Poland’s recent election wasn’t just a political contest, but a stress test for democracy in the digital age, with lessons on FIMI and manipulation that are relevant for…

This week in London, we were proud to take part in the discussion “Upgrading Disinformation Defence: Lessons for Europe from the Polish Election” organised by Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London and Chatham House. The event under the patronage of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU spotlighted information security as…