Building a Stronger Democracy

Democracy means that we can freely decide who we vote for, that our rights are protected and the media is free. It was not always like that. Not so long ago, we had authoritarian regimes in several parts of Europe. Then, we believed democracy won and will stay with us forever. Today we know it should not be taken for granted. Our democracies, our freedoms face many threats. The online world only made it worse in some ways. Therefore, the Commission presents a new deal for democracy, a democracy action plan. We want to make sure that it is up to us, and only us – the citizens, to take informed decisions; that it is up to us to decide if we want to participate in the public life or not. Because new technologies should be tools of emancipation, not manipulation.