“I have spent my life living in 3 of the world’s largest democracies—Germany, the U.S and Indonesia. In all three, I observed similar patterns of increasing polarization, undermined trust in institutions, and radical figures spreading lies via social media.

A scene during the 2019 protests in Indonesia, by JahlilMA from Wikimedia Commons

In 2018, I worked with an Indonesian election campaign, trying to have positive impact. Instead, I witnessed from the inside the forces driving these trends: how algorithms were manipulated using clickbait headlines, bogus websites, and – most of all – millions of fake accounts. The outcome of the election was contested resulting in protests and riots across the country. Does this sound familiar?

I realized that the current design of the online ecosystem threatens democracies worldwide. The status quo will continue to inflict damage on democracies. The current proposals to fix this problem are equally frightening, and threaten to send us towards 1984-esque authoritarianism.

Why has democracy worked so well in the real world, but less so online? FHI’s answer is derived from the fundamental rule of democracy: “one human, one voice”. Our mission is to extend these core values of democracies to the internet. By doing so, we strive to create a more democratic, safe and human world, both online and offline.

“one human, one voice”

By putting the right infrastructure in place, we will lay the foundation for a future of more nimble, intelligent democracies worldwide. Will you support me & our team of volunteers on this mission?”