Google is committed to supporting democratic processes and engagement. We're building products and programs to surface high-quality information to voters, safeguard our platforms from abuse and equip campaigns with the best-in-class security tools and training.

This initiative is launching as state-sponsored threat groups are attacking government institutions across Europe, and putting systems and civil society organisations at risk. We have long been investing, innovating and partnering to counter these threats, for example by engaging with experts on topics such as election integrity and misinformation through our Google Safety Engineering Centers. At the same time, new opportunities to harness technology and AI’s potential for good are emerging, from fostering the essential exchange of ideas to broadening civic engagement. It’s a moment that calls for a more effective partnership between public, private and civic organisations — between technology and democracy, and better tools in democracy’s defence.

We’re committed to supporting governments, industry and civil society on this important goal - for the long term. We are leveraging AI to offer free-of-charge security tools for campaign and election teams, have partnered with local and regional organisations to run an EU-wide prebunking campaign ahead of the EU Parliamentary elections, and we’ve helped launch the European Media & Information Fund, an effort designed to strengthen media literacy and fight misinformation across Europe.

Supporting civil society is core to how we’ll make technology work for democracy for many years to come. That’s why our new €15M Google.org Impact Challenge aims to help scale high-impact initiatives and solutions to strengthen democracy in Europe, including those that harness AI.

What are we looking to fund? High-impact proposals, particularly those leveraging technology in innovative ways, as well as coalitions of organisations coming together to create or scale a solution. We’ll also be looking for initiatives focused on: