Defend Democracy (also known as Stichting Defend Democracy) is a “transatlantic” advocacy group based in the Netherlands that advocates and provides education on identifying and pushing back against misinformation present within the media and online. ^{1 2}

Defend Democracy is a member of Declaration for American Democracy, a left-of-center coalition under Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen Foundation. ³

Background

Defend Democracy (originally called Defending Democracy) was founded by Alice Stollmeyer in November 2017. Stollmeyer became a public activist in 2014 after the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territories in Crimea. According to Stollmeyer, she was attacked by online “bots” and “trolls” on then-Twitter that spread misinformation with a pro-Russian stance. Over the following years, Stollmeyer claimed to observed increased instances of misinformation being spread online regarding the campaigns supporting Brexit, anti-weather dependent energy development, the results of the 2016 presidential election, and additional acts of Russian aggression. ^{4 2}

In 2016, Stollmeyer wrote an online blog post for the Protego Press titled “The Vulnerable Cyborg” where she claimed, “We are seeing a rise of politicians who play the populism card. Helped by hackers, disinformation campaigns, automated propaganda, and opaque algorithms that influence what we see and read on social media and on search engines, we have entered an era of post-fact, post-truth politics. Trust in science is at stake. Trust in public institutions is at stake. Democracy is at stake. We can’t let that happen.” ⁵

Activity

Combatting Disinformation

Defend Democracy has advocated in favor of government regulation of social media platforms as a means of combating alleged disinformation. The group launched “Act on Disinfo,” a training seminar to teach individuals how to personally identify and push back against disinformation found online. ⁶

In a 2020 interview with Elm Magazine, Stollmeyer claimed, “when Trump was still on Twitter, my whole feed was full of people either responding to him or quoting his tweets. Even if the comments were negative, they were still feeding the algorithm and amplifying Trump’s message.” ²

Defend Democracy also runs a “Disinformation Watchdog” that claims to compile alleged online disinformation. ⁷

Radio Resilience

Defend Democracy oversees “Radio Resilience,” a series of online courses and discussions on how to organize “[the] government, the armed forces, the private sector, and empowered citizens” to push back against alleged “societal threats” such as climate change, anti-democratic activity, and emerging technologies. ⁸

People Versus Big Tech

Starting in 2001, Defend Democracy began “People Versus Big Tech,” a grassroots campaign to support the passage of the Digital Services Act (DSA) in the European Union, which passed in June 2022. ⁹ According to the European Commission, the DSA “regulates online intermediaries and platforms” to prevent the spread of disinformation. ¹⁰

Policy Goals

Defend Democracy founder Alice Stollmeyer has previously advocated for the creation of what it calls government-run “alternatives to internet, browsers, platforms and devices” where preferred policies will “replace profit- and ‘access to private data’-driven business models.” ⁵

In addition, she also advocated in favor of creating a United Nations “bill of digital human rights,” ⁵ as well as a government-backed “Center for Cognitive Security” to provide what she called “sufficient capability of defence, intelligence, and security services” against disinformation. ⁵

Leadership

Alice Stollmeyer is the founder and executive director of Defend Democracy. Born in Belgium, she started her career at the University of Amsterdam while also working as an energy policy and communication adviser for Dutch utility company SVP District Energy. In 2012, Stollmeyer founded her own digital advocacy consulting service. The service’s clients have included the World Wildlife Fund, the European Climate Foundation, the European Partnership for Energy and Environment, the European Trade Union, New Energy for Europe, and Solar Power Europe. ^{11 1 12} In 2014, Stollmeyer briefly served as an advisor to the European Climate Foundation. In 2017, she founded Defend Democracy, and also served as interim communications director at the Women Political Leaders Global Forum for six months. ^{11 1}

1. “About @StollmeyerEU.” Stollmeyer. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://stollmeyer.eu/?page_id=45.
2. Huhtinen, Heini. “Our brain was not built for this.” Elm Magazine. November 15, 2020. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://elmmagazine.eu/resistance/our-brain-was-not-built-for-this/
3. “Our 250+ Member Organizations.” Declaration for American Democracy. Accessed January 31, 2023. https://dfadcoalition.org/.
4. “What May Have Led To Founding @DefendDemocracy.” Stollmeyer. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://stollmeyer.eu/?p=649.
5. Stollmeyer, Alice. “The Vulnerable Cyborg.” Protego Press. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://www.protegopress.com/the-vulnerable-cyborg/.
6. “Act On Disinfo.” Defend Democracy. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://defenddemocracy.eu/projects/act-on-disinfo/.
7. “Disinformation Watchdog.” Defend Democracy. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://defenddemocracy.eu/projects/disinformation-watchdog/.
8.  “Radio Resilience.” Defend Democracy. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://defenddemocracy.eu/projects/radio-resilience/.
9. “People Vs. Big Tech.” Defend Democracy. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://defenddemocracy.eu/projects/people-vs-big-tech/.
10. “The Digital Services Act.” European Commission, Accessed April 11, 2025. https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-services-act_en
11. “Alice Stollmeyer.” LinkedIn. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicestollmeyer/?originalSubdomain=be.
12. “Portfolio.” Stollmeyer. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://stollmeyer.eu/?page_id=541.