09.22.25 | Defending Democracy: And Now What For Information Defence?

On Monday, September 22, 2025, CSINT Fellow, Adam Fivenson, ran an in-person roundtable on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York City.

Democracy and the information environment are in crisis. Amid the debut of generative AI and critical changes in tech platform policy, the recent withdrawal of U.S. government support for information integrity have created an information vacuum, accelerating existing trends that are undermining human rights and democracy globally. This moment of disruption, however, also presents an opportunity to build a new, more resilient, inclusive and effective strategy.

The conversation explored how our approach to the information environment must evolve to review and protect freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and vibrant, pluralistic public debate. The conversation focused on building a more resilient, distributed, and proactive strategy for information integrity that empowers democratic voices, leverages rather than ignores the new information environment, and builds new alliances to defend against authoritarian influence.