20/06/2025 President
“We are surrounded by more words, more images, more opinions than ever before, and yet we are not necessarily better informed,” said PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos, speaking today at the opening of the Hackathon, an event organised by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, whose objective is to co-design practical solutions that counter disinformation, protect free speech, and strengthen democratic resilience in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
“More content does not equal more clarity. More sources do not equal more truth, especially when digital media simply reproduce each other,” he continued. In this context, he advocated “media literacy, not just media fluency; curiosity, not just connectivity; journalism, not just influencers; and debate, not just comment sections” and encouraged participants not to be “observers lost in the digital sphere”.
President Rousopoulos recalled that the Council of Europe has already adopted the first global Convention on Artificial Intelligence, grounded in human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. “It is now up to our member states to give it life, to create the mechanisms that will monitor how AI is used, and more importantly, how it may be misused to threaten the democratic fabric.”
Participants include youth activists, civil society leaders, tech developers, policymakers, diplomats, legal experts, economists, scientists, philosophers, social entrepreneurs, psychologists and artists. The Hackathon, organised as part of the New Democratic Pact for Europe, will feature in particular dynamic team challenges and plenary debates.