Reviving this thread to say: @hugi – could you please please launch your search strings script? Thank you!
Sure thing! What I need is a research scope. Basically, a few paragraphs defining what you are looking for.
2 Likes
Of course! Something like this:
As part of INTERFACED WP2, our team is tasked with ethnographically analyzing the lived experiences of citizens engaging in non-electoral political participation since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. A central component of this work involves identifying and mapping the platforms— “participation interfaces”—through which citizens deliberate, mobilize, advocate, and contest political realities outside of formal electoral systems. The interfaces we hope to identify through search strings may include (but are not limited to) digital petition sites, civic tech tools, decentralized organizing platforms, protest-mapping technologies, or thematic online communities. It is our hope that the search strings will systematically scan, filter, and categorize relevant participation environments (“interfaces”) in countries under study.
In addition to identifying these interfaces/platforms, we are engaged in a parallel effort to identify and reach out to local actors embedded within these sociopolitical ecosystems—people who will become our “Fellows” (see thread on the call for Fellows). These are individuals who are either already acting as conduits between communities and institutions or who have the capacity to serve as such through because they have the social capital and trust-based relationships with the communities we aim to reach. The search string protocol will hopefully reveal both participation “hubs” and key actors that can be potentially invited as collaborators: community organizers, citizen researchers, platform moderators, notably vocal contributors, civic tech developers, grassroots coordinators.
1 Like
Great! What about some limitations? What are you not interested in?
Is the geographic scope limited?
Are commercial offerings that have met this need also interesting, or out of scope? For example communities with pay-to-access models.
Any other boundaries I should be aware of?
1 Like
Geographically – limited to the 9 countries under study in the project: Austria, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Spain, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom
That’s a great question about pay-to-access models. Are you thinking of online communities/ subscription-based platforms? I would like to know what @danmercea thinks of that – but can you say more of the kinds of communities / examples of commercial offerings you have in mind?
Yes. Since you particularly mention “thematic online communities”, this would be a big one. Platforms like Mighty Networks (here is one on the theme of disability advocacy leadership), but also Patreons that give access to exclusive Discord servers.
On an extreme side of the spectrum, Andrew Tate radicalizes young men that he charges $49.99 per month for his Discord server or $7,979 (yes, you read that right) to access his “War Room”.
2 Likes
wow thank you for sharing this, crazy but interesting at the same time!
Sounds like we shouldn’t exclude it then. Let’s see what comes up! Will get back here within a week or so when I’ve compiled results.
Great thread and tricky question. On the one hand, commercial platforms are exclusionary by nature. So, it seems reasonable to assume that socio-economically disadvantaged groups are walled out by the access fees. On the other, it is also reasonable to expect that some of those who have disengaged from other forms of participation have migrated to some of these alternatives spaces that provide an outlet for interests and issues outside of the political mainstream (in many cases). So, I would say, if there is a way for us to tap into those alternative spaces, it might be worth doing it, But we should be clearheaded about it and calibrate our expectations.
3 Likes
Apologies for the delay. I had not updated my script since I spoke to @ivan last year. It turns out that some parts of the code had gone stale with upgrades to APIs I depend on, so I had to do some tweaking.
First part of the script is now done, generating the search terms.
It is a pretty massive list of 2988 “naive” terms that have been generated with a sort of shotgun recombination approach. Many of these will be dead ends in the first stage.
interface_search_termstrings.txt (206.3 KB)
My next step is to leave you with a list of interesting leads to pursue. I need to further tweak the script to get that to work again, so stay tuned.
I will also try another approach that leverages the “deep research” capabilities of some of the AI providers that have become available since I wrote this script.
1 Like
Thanks so much @hugi !
Results are in. Once I saw the outcome of the search phrase generation, I was not very pleased with the quality of the phrases. There were too many dead ends and the number of languages and regions would have pushed my old method to its limits. I decided to take a different approach.
As I mentioned, when I first wrote the scripts that I told @ivan about last year, there were no out-of-the-box solutions to use large language models to evaluate deep research of online sources. What I developed was a pretty a solution to this: Generating search phrases, getting the results, evaluating the scraped web pages with a language model and extracting entities. This method works (as demonstrated at https://solidarityindex.arisingquo.com/), but it is complicated and limited by that I run everything on my own without more direct access to indexed pages available to large outlets.
Since then, all the big model companies (OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and so on) have developed their own version of “deep research” - a mode that allows the model to crawl a large number of sources online to compile a report answering a research question. Simply using this feature in a clever way proved to yield better results.
My assessment is that the results are as good or better than the results would have been for the script. It required more manual handling as these deep research features are not easily scriptable, but at the end of the day the work put in was probably equivalent.
Methodology
Two research brief templates were created.
One template used the brief written by @Nica verbatim, but adapted to clarify what output format we expected for the report, and rewritten to single out one country at a time.
Original research brief
As part of INTERFACED WP2, our team is tasked with ethnographically analyzing the lived experiences of citizens engaging in non-electoral political participation since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. A central component of this work involves identifying and mapping the platforms— “participation interfaces”—through which citizens deliberate, mobilize, advocate, and contest political realities outside of formal electoral systems. The interfaces we hope to identify through search strings may include (but are not limited to) digital petition sites, civic tech tools, decentralized organizing platforms, protest-mapping technologies, or thematic online communities. It is our hope that the search strings will systematically scan, filter, and categorize relevant participation environments (“interfaces”) in countries under study.
In addition to identifying these interfaces/platforms, we are engaged in a parallel effort to identify and reach out to local actors embedded within these sociopolitical ecosystems—people who will become our “Fellows” (see thread on the call for Fellows). These are individuals who are either already acting as conduits between communities and institutions or who have the capacity to serve as such through because they have the social capital and trust-based relationships with the communities we aim to reach. The search string protocol will hopefully reveal both participation “hubs” and key actors that can be potentially invited as collaborators: community organizers, citizen researchers, platform moderators, notably vocal contributors, civic tech developers, grassroots coordinators.
Return a table listing up to 50 such interfaces/platforms.
Our targeted geographical focus is explicitly within the United Kingdom, with the goal of mapping up to 50 significant participation interfaces reflecting the diverse spectrum of contemporary British political participation.
Another template was a version of the original brief, rewritten by GPT o3-pro with the prompt to integrate the feedback and additions that have been brought up in this thread, along with a transcript of this discussion.
Revised research brief
As part of INTERFACED WP2, our team is tasked with ethnographically examining the lived experiences of UK citizens involved in non-electoral political participation from 2020 onward. Central to our research is the identification and mapping of diverse platforms—“participation interfaces”—used by citizens to deliberate, mobilize, advocate, and contest political realities beyond formal electoral mechanisms. These interfaces encompass digital petition sites, civic tech tools, decentralized organizing platforms, protest-mapping technologies, thematic online communities, forums, and subscription-based or commercial platforms, ensuring representation across the entire political spectrum, including progressive, conservative, populist, and right-wing communities.
We aim to systematically identify and categorize these participation environments, explicitly acknowledging and exploring the inclusion of commercial offerings (e.g., paid subscription communities, Patreon-driven platforms, and exclusive forums). This consideration reflects our understanding that alternative or commercial spaces may serve as critical platforms for political engagement, particularly for communities and individuals disconnected or excluded from mainstream political avenues.
Parallel to identifying these platforms, we are focused on pinpointing and engaging local actors embedded within these sociopolitical ecosystems who will serve as our project “Fellows.” Potential Fellows include community organizers, influential citizen journalists, platform moderators, prominent digital contributors, civic tech developers, grassroots coordinators, and others who maintain significant social capital and trust-based relationships within their communities.
Our targeted geographical focus is explicitly within the United Kingdom, with the goal of mapping up to 50 significant participation interfaces reflecting the diverse spectrum of contemporary British political participation.
Variations of each of these briefs were generated for each target country, in the target language, as it often helps to find sources in the target language if the question itself is in that language. This resulted in 18 research briefs in 9 different languages.
Each of these 18 briefs were then run through two different “deep research” features: OpenAI ChatGPT o3-pro and Google Gemini 2.5 Pro. This resulted in 36 research reports.
These research reports were concatenated and used as a prompt for a pipeline using Gemini 2.5 to produce a deduplicated table of all relevant entities mentioned in these reports. This resulted in a list of 430 entities.
These results were reviewed manually. Duplicates that were missed by the language model were removed. Some entities that did not fit the research criteria were removed. This included media outlets, government service websites, political parties, blogs and general mentions of social media platforms. Influencers, YouTubers, and Patreon creators were kept as these often have communities that could be considered interfaces, as discussed earlier. I also kept some news outlets if they had community deliberation aspects, like the UnHerd community and the subscriber-only forum of Il Fatto Quotidiano.
In the end, 160 entities remained, and this list is presented below. Some additional filtering is probably necessary. This list should be considered “raw” as it has only been rudimentarily checked and reviewed. It is best used as seed material for further research. Note that this is AI generated, so there may be inaccuracies in descriptions and other fields.
Extracted Interfaces
| NAME | URL | DESCRIPTION | REGION | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #aufstehn | aufstehn.at | An Austrian non-profit, progressive campaigning platform and community that enables citizens to start petitions, send protest emails, and collectively influence political decisions. | Austria | Launched in 2015; its open petition portal is mein.aufstehn.at. Has over 365,000 registered supporters. |
| #Rezistența | (Facebook / YouTube: „#Rezistența”) | A Romanian civic platform and community symbolising the #rezist anti-corruption movement. It coordinates protests, flash mobs, and awareness campaigns. | Romania | Born from the massive protests in February 2017, it acts as a communication hub for civic groups across Romania. |
| 38 Degrees | 38degrees.org.uk | A major UK-based, people-powered, non-partisan campaigning platform where over a million citizens take action on various issues through petitions and grassroots lobbying. | UK | Founded in 2009. Funded entirely by small donations from its members, ensuring independence. |
| 99 ZU EINS | www.youtube.com/@99ZUEINS | A Marxist, left-radical YouTube channel. | Germany | Financed via Patreon and donations, offering exclusive Discord access to supporters. |
| A Hang / SzabadaHang | ahang.hu / szabad.ahang.hu | A civic-tech platform aiming to combine digital tools with offline community organizing for social and environmental justice. SzabadaHang is its free online petition tool. | Hungary | Has nearly 900,000 members. Key figures are Gergő Hajdu and Csaba Madarász. Campaigns on issues like deforestation and the ‘sovereignty protection law’. |
| Aarhus Smart Citizen Kit | N/A | An academic project from Aarhus University that develops an engagement strategy for citizen sensing (citizen-led data collection). | Denmark | An example of Danish Civic Tech rooted in academia rather than a grassroots startup scene. |
| abgeordnetenwatch | abgeordnetenwatch.de | A German non-partisan platform allowing citizens to ask public questions to elected officials and access a transparency database on their voting records and income. | Germany | Run by Parliamentwatch e.V. since 2004. Saw record usage during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 3.5 million users in 2021. |
| ACORN UK | acorntheunion.org.uk | A community-based union in the UK that organizes tenants and residents to take direct action on local issues like housing, rent control, and public transport. | UK | Operates through local branches, combining online coordination with on-the-ground, street-level action. |
| Act for Good (Donez.ro) | donez.ro | A platform developed by Code for Romania that enables citizens to easily redirect a percentage of their income tax to support civil society organizations. | Romania | A key piece of financial infrastructure for Romania’s NGO sector, strengthening civil society resilience. |
| Active Citizens Fund | eeagrants.org | An EU-funded program supporting civil society organizations in Central and Southern Europe to promote civic participation, human rights, and digital inclusion. | Hungary, Romania, other EU states | A €26.5M program by EEA and Norway Grants, fostering cross-border collaboration and civic resilience. |
| ActiveWatch | activewatch.ro | A Romanian human rights NGO specializing in freedom of expression and media monitoring. It acts as a public watchdog, reporting on abuses of civil liberties. | Romania | Originally founded in 1994 as a Press Monitoring Agency. Publishes an annual report on press freedom in Romania. |
| adhocracy+ | adhocracy.plus | A free, open-source platform for digital participation projects, including idea collection, surveys, and collaborative text editing, used by various organizations. | Germany, Europe-wide | Developed by the Berlin-based non-profit Liquid Democracy e.V. and used by over 400 organizations. |
| Adjukössze | adjukossze.hu | A leading Hungarian community fundraising platform for civil organizations and social causes, enabling online crowdfunding for non-profit projects. | Hungary | Launched around 2013 by the NIOK Foundation, it has become the largest domestic online donation platform. |
| ADOM Diákmozgalom | adommozgalom.hu | An independent student movement in Hungary fighting for a better, student-centric education system, organizing actions in solidarity with teachers. | Hungary | Successor to the Independent Student Parliament, it was a key founder of the United Student Front in 2022. |
| aHang / SzabadHang | ahang.hu | Hungary’s largest independent civic community and online petition platform, enabling citizens to launch and support campaigns on social and political issues. | Hungary | Launched in 2018, its open petition site is SzabadHang. Mobilized over 110,000 signatures against emergency powers during the pandemic. |
| Airesis | airesis.it | An Italian open-source platform for participatory democracy and online deliberation, designed as a civic social network with advanced voting and discussion tools. | Italy | Developed since 2012 by Italian volunteers, it offers a complete, free toolset for democratic community organization. |
| Al Bawsala | www.albawsala.com | A leading Tunisian NGO that monitors the activities of the Tunisian Parliament and other public institutions through its Marsad (Observatory) initiatives. | Tunisia | Promotes transparency and accountability. Operates in a challenging political environment post-2021. Key figure: Selim Kharrat. |
| Amnesty International Danmark | amnesty.dk | The Danish branch of the international human rights NGO. | Denmark | Uses digital platforms for fundraising, awareness campaigns, and mobilizing supporters for human rights issues. |
| ASC Dămăroaia & Bucureștii Noi | ascdbn.ro | A neighbourhood civic association in Bucharest, Romania, fighting against chaotic real estate development and protecting green spaces through legal action and public pressure. | Romania | An example of hyperlocal, grassroots activism focused on urban planning and quality of life. |
| Atlas-Initiative | atlas-initiative.de | A paleo-libertarian initiative that is socially conservative and radically free-market. | Germany | Initiated by publicist Markus Krall. Aims to build a powerful movement through citizen camps and a dedicated member app for organization. |
| Avaaz | avaaz.org | A global online activist network and petition platform promoting civic action on climate change, human rights, and corruption, with a significant presence in multiple European countries. | Global (incl. UK, RO, IT, ES) | Founded in 2007, it has over 69 million members worldwide and has run many successful transnational and national campaigns. |
| BaniPublici.ro | banipublici.ro | A Romanian online platform for budget transparency, providing user-friendly visualizations of public budgets and tools for citizens to express spending priorities. | Romania | Developed by the NGO Funky Citizens, it helps increase fiscal responsibility by making public financial data accessible. |
| Basta dittatura Telegram channel | N/A (Telegram) | The main nerve center of the Italian No Green Pass movement. | Italy | Used to plan and coordinate weekly demonstrations and disruptive actions across Italy. Subject of a major judicial investigation. |
| Betyársereg (Outlaw Army) | betyarsereg.hu | A national-radical organization focusing on martial arts and tradition preservation. | Hungary | Led by Zsolt Tyirityán. Works closely with other radical right groups like Légió Hungária. Has its own clothing brands. |
| Bilkamcha (بلّكمشة) | billkamcha.tn | An online platform run by the Tunisian NGO I-Watch for citizens to securely report cases of financial and administrative corruption. | Tunisia | The platform’s team investigates the reports, gathers evidence, and refers documented cases to the judiciary. |
| Black Lives Matter UK (ukblm.org) | ukblm.org | An organization articulating an explicitly radical political platform with demands including defunding the police and transforming the education system. | UK | Functions as a platform for specific abolitionist and anti-capitalist political goals, distinct from the humanitarian-focused blacklivesmatter.uk. |
| Bruno Kreisky Forum | N/A | A forum rooted in the social democratic tradition, providing a platform for international dialogue on democracy, economy, and social issues. | Austria | Hosts discussions and events, contributing to progressive and academic discourse. |
| Budapest Közösségi Költségvetés | otlet.budapest.hu | The participatory budget platform for Budapest, where residents can submit ideas and vote on how to spend a portion of the city’s budget. | Hungary (Budapest) | Launched in 2020. Annually, citizens decide on the allocation of a 1 billion HUF (~€2.5M) fund. |
| Bugetare participativă (Various Cities) | bugetareparticipativa.ro | A series of local participatory budgeting platforms in Romania, allowing residents in cities like Cluj, Bucharest, and Timișoara to propose and vote on local projects. | Romania (Cluj, Bucharest, etc.) | The Cluj-Napoca model, launched in 2017, was a pioneer and has inspired other Romanian cities. |
| Burbuja.info | Burbuja.info | An online forum that originated from the 2008 housing bubble, now covering a wide range of topics including economics, politics, and conspiracy theories. | Spain | Identified as a key pillar of the Spanish manosphere, with a sensationalist tone and a focus on misogynistic and anti-feminist discourse. |
| Byline Times | N/A | An investigative journalism outlet and commentary site funded by subscriptions. | UK | Focuses on anti-corruption and threats to democracy. |
| Campact / WeAct | campact.de | A German NGO and online platform for progressive campaigns. Campact organizes petitions and mobilizations, while its WeAct portal allows users to start their own petitions. | Germany | Founded in 2004, it has a supporter base of over 3.5 million people in Germany. |
| Cap Collectif | cap-collectif.com | A French debate and consultation tool used to facilitate exchanges of opinion and highlight different parts of a discussion. | France, EU | A sophisticated tool for structured online debate, reflecting a growing demand for platforms that can manage large-scale public consultations. |
| Carl Benjamin (Sargon of Akkad) | N/A (Patreon) | An anti-feminist, right-wing YouTuber who uses Patreon to fund his content. | UK | Reportedly earns over $5,000 per month for creating videos that critique feminism, Islam, and identity politics. |
| Căși Sociale ACUM! | casisocialeacum.ro | A civic-activist initiative in Cluj, Romania, fighting for housing justice and access to adequate public housing for marginalized people. | Romania | Part of the national Blocul pentru Locuire network, it organizes protests and legal action against forced evictions. |
| Casus Belli Telegram channel | N/A (Telegram) | A Telegram channel associated with the extremist group Blocul Naționalist (The Nationalist Bloc). | Romania | Used to distribute nationalist propaganda and coordinate for far-right groups. |
| CeRe | ce-re.org | The Resource Center for Public Participation, a Bucharest-based NGO that provides resources and assistance to help civic groups influence public decisions. | Romania | Active since 2006, it supports grassroots advocacy and runs the annual Public Participation Awards. |
| CeZiceLegea.ro | cezicelegea.ro | A Romanian civic-tech platform that explains legislation and administrative procedures in plain language to help citizens understand their rights and duties. | Romania | Launched by Code for Romania as a pandemic response to improve legal literacy and civic participation. |
| Cha9a9a.tn | www.cha9a9a.tn | An online donation platform for associations, created by the Tunisian Association for Digital Technologies (ATTD). | Tunisia | Allows associations and individuals to create campaigns for solidarity, humanitarian, educational, and environmental causes. A key example of a local commercial interface for social action. |
| Change.org | change.org | A global for-profit petition platform that is one of the most widely used tools for digital activism, with massive user bases in the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Romania. | Global | Saw a significant increase in health, social justice, and COVID-related petitions since 2020. |
| CitizenGO | citizengo.org | An international conservative/ultracatholic online petition platform, founded in Spain, used to mobilize supporters on pro-family and traditional values issues. | Global (HQ in Spain) | Active in over 50 countries, it coordinates campaigns against abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights, etc. |
| CitizenLab / Go Vocal | govocal.com | A commercial digital community engagement platform used by over 300 governments globally, including 25+ Danish municipalities, to run consultations and participatory processes. | Global (HQ in Belgium) | Saw rapid expansion during the pandemic as a tool for remote citizen engagement. |
| Citizens’ Engagement Platform | cop-demos.jrc.ec.europa.eu | A multilingual digital space hosted by the European Commission’s JRC to host participatory and deliberative processes on EU topics. | EU-wide | Enables citizens from across the EU to share ideas in all 24 official languages on topics like the EU budget and youth policy. |
| Civica Iași | civicaiasi.ro | A Romanian NGO founded in 2014 to promote good governance and community involvement in Iași, monitoring local authorities and running participatory projects. | Romania (Iași) | Acts as a local watchdog and has run campaigns for participatory budgeting and transparency. |
| Civictech Romania | civictech.ro | A Romanian NGO focused on developing civic tech projects with direct impact. | Romania | Projects include the Social Services Map (Harta Serviciilor Sociale) and the politician monitoring platform Nu tot ei. Key figure: Cezar Neaga. |
| CKP tiltakozási térképek | ckpinfo.hu | Interactive online protest maps created by the Hungarian Civil Public Education Platform (CKP) to visualize the nationwide scale of teacher and student protests in 2022-23. | Hungary | A crowdsourced map that documented over 4,370 protest actions, showing the movement’s breadth. |
| Comisión 8M | hacialahuelgafeminista.org | A decentralized, non-hierarchical network of feminist assemblies across Spain that coordinates mass demonstrations and actions for International Women’s Day. | Spain | A prime example of a decentralized, network-based progressive movement, using digital tools for coordination. |
| Commonplace | www.commonplace.is | A UK-based digital citizen engagement platform used for projects in transport planning, regeneration, climate action, and housing. | UK, EU | A commercial platform widely adopted by public and private sector organizations in the UK to conduct consultations. Now part of Zencity. |
| CONSUL | consulproject.org | Open-source digital participation software born from the 15M Indignados movement in Madrid. | Spain (origin), Global | Powers over 250 platforms for participatory budgeting, citizen proposals, and collaborative decision-making. Stewarded by the Consul Democracy Foundation. |
| Contributors.ro | contributors.ro | A high-level public deliberation platform hosting in-depth analyses, essays, and comments from public intellectuals, academics, and experts. | Romania | Functions as an interface for elite debate on complex topics of politics and economics. |
| Corupția Ucide | (Facebook: „Corupția ucide”) | A famous Romanian anti-corruption online community (primarily on Facebook) that was a major catalyst for the #rezist protests of 2017. | Romania | Founded in 2015 after the Colectiv nightclub fire, it demonstrated the power of social media to mobilize mass protests. |
| CrowdJustice | crowdjustice.com | A UK-based crowdfunding platform that enables communities and individuals to raise money for public-interest legal action and judicial reviews. | UK | Became instrumental during 2020-21 for funding legal challenges related to pandemic policies and government contracts. |
| Cut Ties with Genocide | N/A (social media) | A pro-Palestinian grassroots initiative that organized protest camps. | Denmark | An ad-hoc initiative that demonstrates the use of social media for rapid protest mobilization. |
| Danish Deliberative Polls & Mini-Publics | tekno.dk | A tradition of pioneering deliberative models like Consensus Conferences and Deliberative Polls involving randomly selected citizens. | Denmark | These models provided foundational experience for the deliberative wave across Europe. The Danish Board of Technology Foundation is a key actor. |
| Decide Madrid | decide.madrid.es | Madrid’s pioneering official citizen participation platform, built on CONSUL, allowing residents to submit proposals, vote on budgets, and engage in debates. | Spain (Madrid) | A landmark platform for digital democracy, although its institutional support has waned since 2019. |
| Decidim | decidim.org | A technopolitical free, open-source platform for participatory democracy, originating in Barcelona and now used by hundreds of institutions worldwide. | Global (Origin in Spain) | Powers numerous platforms in Spain, Italy, Austria, and beyond. Its development is guided by the Metadecidim community. |
| Decidim.Barcelona | decidim.barcelona | The official participation platform of the Barcelona City Council, and the first major implementation of the Decidim software. | Spain (Barcelona) | A flagship example of municipal digital democracy, it has hosted hundreds of participatory processes since 2016. |
| Declic | declic.ro | Romania’s first and largest online petition and civic campaigning platform, with over a million members mobilizing on social, environmental, and justice issues. | Romania | Has run over 100 successful campaigns, including a 2020 petition that led to the creation of the Animal Police. |
| Decoro Urbano (WeDu) | decorourbano.org | An Italian civic app and platform for citizens to report urban decay issues like potholes, graffiti, and abandoned waste via geolocalized photos. | Italy | Adopted by dozens of Italian municipalities as an official tool for managing citizen service requests. |
| Demagog | demagog.hu | A fact-checking platform operating in the Visegrad region that monitors the truthfulness of statements made by public figures. | Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic | A crucial tool for combating disinformation in political environments where media pluralism is under threat. |
| Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR/DFDR) | fdgr.ro | The political representation organization for the German minority in Romania. | Romania | Active at the local and regional level, particularly in Transylvania. Former President Klaus Iohannis was a key figure. |
| Den Grønne Ungdomsbevægelse (The Green Youth Movement) | groenungdom.dk | An activist movement in Denmark with a focus on green transition and climate justice. | Denmark | A grassroots movement that uses digital platforms for mobilization and activism. |
| Discuto | www.discuto.io | A platform that focuses on consensus-building through collaboration and discussion. | Austria (origin), EU | A tool specifically designed to move beyond simple opinion polling towards finding common ground and building consensus among participants. |
| Dk.politik (Google Group) | groups.google.com/g/dk.politik | A long-running Usenet/Google Groups online forum for political discussion in Denmark. | Denmark | Represents an older, more unstructured form of online political deliberation, providing a baseline for analyzing how political talk has evolved. |
| Dopomoha.ro | dopomoha.ro | A multilingual humanitarian platform created by Code for Romania to provide essential information and support to Ukrainian refugees arriving in Romania. | Romania | A key piece of the 2022 crisis response, accessed hundreds of thousands of times and coordinating civil society efforts. |
| e-people Tunisia | N/A | An integrated electronic platform for citizens to submit complaints and report corruption cases to public bodies. | Tunisia | Modeled on a Korean system. Its management by a government unit has raised conflict of interest concerns from CSOs. |
| eDemokrácia Műhely | edemokracia.hu | A Hungarian civic tech workshop and organization that promotes and implements digital democracy tools, such as the Decidim platform, for municipalities. | Hungary | Key actor in providing participatory tools for local governments in Hungary despite a restrictive national environment. |
| El Yunque | N/A | A clandestine pressure group and secret society of Mexican origin with influence on ultraconservative Spanish groups like HazteOir.org. | Spain, Mexico | An opaque network operating behind the scenes of the far-right. |
| elBaladiya.tn (البلدية الرقميّة) | elbaladiya.tn | A digital platform in Tunisia for over 140 municipalities, enabling citizens to report issues, track administrative requests, and participate in local polls. | Tunisia | Launched in 2019, it digitizes communication between citizens and local government. |
| European Forum Alpbach | N/A | A renowned annual conference that brings young people together with decision-makers from politics, business, and civil society. | Austria | A platform for discussing key European challenges, fostering intergenerational and cross-sectoral dialogue. |
| Expert Forum (EFOR) | expertforum.ro | A Romanian think-tank publishing detailed reports and analyses on good governance, electoral processes, and justice. | Romania | A key source of informed public discourse. Key figures include Septimius Pârvu and Laura Ștefan. |
| Extinction Rebellion (XR) | rebellion.global | A global climate activist movement using non-violent civil resistance to demand government action. The UK and Hungarian chapters are particularly active. | UK, Hungary, Global | Uses its digital platforms to articulate demands, provide Rebel Toolkits, and mobilize volunteers for large-scale protests. |
| FameUp Platform | N/A (App) | A marketing application that connects brands (including political ones) with micro-influencers. | Romania | Was reportedly used in the pro-Georgescu presidential campaign to coordinate influencer messaging. |
| FixMyStreet | fixmystreet.com | A map-based reporting service from mySociety that enables UK residents to report local problems like potholes directly to the responsible council. | UK | A long-running and highly successful example of hyperlocal civic tech, replicated internationally. |
| ForoCoches | https://forocoches.com/foro/ | Originally a car enthusiast forum, it has become the largest online community in Spain and a de facto space for political debate. | Spain | Described as a digital bar, it’s a central node of the Spanish manosphere, known for misogynistic content and support for right-wing populist parties. |
| FragDenStaat | fragdenstaat.de | An influential German and Austrian platform that simplifies the process of making Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to public bodies and publishes the results. | Germany, Austria | Run by the Open Knowledge Foundation, it has facilitated nearly 200,000 information requests in Germany alone. |
| FreeSZFE | freeszfe.hu | A movement and association born from the 2020 student occupation of the University of Theatre and Film Arts (SZFE) in Budapest, fighting for academic and artistic freedom. | Hungary | A symbol of resistance against government overreach in the cultural and educational spheres. |
| Frena la Curva | frenalacurva.net | A collaborative citizen platform and interactive map that emerged in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic to coordinate mutual aid and volunteer resources. | Spain, Global | Started by the LAAAB in Aragon, it quickly spread to over 15 countries as a model for civic crisis response. |
| Fridays for Future | fridaysforfuture.org | A global youth-led climate movement organizing school strikes and protests. The Romanian and Hungarian chapters are notably active. | Romania, Hungary, Global | A prime example of a decentralized, digitally coordinated global movement with strong local chapters. |
| Frihedsbevægelsens Fællesråd (Freedom Movement’s Joint Council) | N/A (Facebook) | A protest movement and NGO critical of global governance institutions like the WHO. | Denmark | An anti-establishment group with a conspiratorial orientation. |
| Frihedsbrevet | frihedsbrevet.dk | An independent Danish media outlet operating on a pure subscription model, rejecting advertising and state media support. | Denmark | Focused on investigative journalism and providing a community for its paying members. |
| Fundația Participa Ciudadano | N/A | A non-profit petition platform that allows citizens to launch proposals. | Spain | An NGO-driven interface for civic participation. |
| Funky Citizens | funky.ong | A Romanian NGO focused on good governance and active citizenship, using technology, data, and civic education to hold authorities accountable. | Romania | Develops tools like the fact-checking platform Factual and the public spending monitor BaniPublici.ro. |
| Galassia Nera su Telegram (The Black Galaxy on Telegram) | N/A (Telegram) | A journalistic term for a dense network of neo-fascist, nationalist, anti-Semitic, and denialist channels on Telegram in Italy. | Italy | Mapped by the anti-fascist magazine Patria Indipendente. Includes groups like CasaPound, Forza Nuova, and White Lives Matter. Used for propaganda and organizing violent actions. |
| Geeks for Democracy | g4d.ro | A Romanian civic group of IT professionals, communicators, and entrepreneurs who develop digital projects to increase civic engagement. | Romania | Formed during the 2017 #rezist protests, they build tools for election monitoring and civic alerts. |
| Geld für die Welt (Money for the World) | geldfuerdiewelt.de | A Substack newsletter and YouTube channel by economist Maurice Höfgen, offering progressive economic policy analysis. | Germany | A key example of a new generation of left-wing political influencers successfully using creator economy platforms. Focuses on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). |
| Generation Identitær (Generation Identity) | identitaer.dk | An ethno-nationalist, new right youth movement with branches across Europe. | Denmark, Europe | Uses a range of social media for propaganda and actions. Uses Odysee for content that is too strong for Youtube. |
| Gentofte Opgaveudvalg | gentofte.dk | A pioneering Danish model for co-creation where temporary committees of local politicians and randomly selected citizens develop policy proposals together. | Denmark (Gentofte) | A long-running example of deliberative democracy that adapted to hybrid formats during the pandemic. |
| Gilet Arancioni (Orange Vests) | N/A (Telegram, Facebook) | A populist, anti-system protest movement in Italy, centered around its leader Nicola Franzoni. | Italy | Utilizes Telegram and Facebook to spread conspiracy theories (e.g., about COVID-19 or NATO) and mobilize followers. |
| Giv et Praj app | givetpraj.dk | A nationwide Danish civic tech app that allows citizens to report problems in the public space (potholes, broken signs) directly to the correct municipal authority. | Denmark | Widely adopted by Danish municipalities as a tool for crowdsourced infrastructure maintenance. |
| Go Vocal (formerly Citizen Lab) | www.govocal.com | A commercial online community engagement platform for governments, offering tools for surveys, voting, mapping, and participatory budgeting. | Global (incl. UK, Austria, Belgium, France) | A SaaS solution used by over 500 governments, including major Austrian cities like Vienna and Innsbruck. |
| Guido Fawkes | order-order.com | A highly influential right-wing political blog known for its anti-establishment, sensationalist tone and focus on Westminster gossip and exposés. | UK | Readership is concentrated among political insiders and Conservative activists. Has been credited with breaking major stories. Founder: Paul Staines. |
| Hallo Meinung | www.youtube.com/@HalloMeinung | A right-populist, AfD-adjacent YouTube channel and platform. | Germany | Operated by Klaus-Peter Weber. Financed through sponsorship memberships and donations, offering exclusive events to members. |
| Harcosok Klubja (Warriors’ Club) | N/A (zárt Facebook-csoport) | A closed, invitation-only community initiated by Viktor Orbán for the most committed Fidesz activists. | Hungary | Described as for digital world freedom fighters. Access to events is via QR code, and it is closed to the independent press. A tool for organizing the core activist base. |
| Harta Serviciilor Sociale (Social Services Map) | N/A | A project by Civictech Romania to map social services. | Romania | An example of technology being used for public good and to increase transparency. |
| Hope Not Hate | hopenothate.org.uk | A leading UK anti-fascist advocacy group that combines in-depth research with community organizing to counter racism and extremism. | UK | Publishes the annual State of Hate report and uses its digital platforms to disseminate research and mobilize supporters. |
| Idaraty.tn | N/A | A Tunisian civic tech platform launched in 2020 to simplify interactions between citizens and the state. | Tunisia | An emerging initiative in the Tunisian civic tech space. Founder: Ahmed Zoghlami. |
| Il Fatto Quotidiano (Subscriber Forum) | N/A (Paywalled forum) | The subscriber-only forum of the Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano. | Italy | An exclusive space where paying readers can interact directly with the editorial staff and discuss politics. An example of a commercialized progressive community. |
| Index Fórum | forum.index.hu | One of the oldest and largest online discussion forums in Hungary, operating since the political transition. | Hungary | Has dedicated sections for politics, public life, and economic policy, reflecting a wide spectrum of opinions from a massive user base. |
| innn.it | innn.it | A German digital campaign platform launched in 2022 by the former team of Change.org Germany, focusing on petition creation and campaign support. | Germany | The successor organization to Change.org e.V. after it lost its non-profit status in Germany. |
| Jung & Naiv | www.jungundnaiv.de | A German progressive interview format, primarily on YouTube, known for long, in-depth interviews with politicians and experts. | Germany | Financed exclusively through direct donations (no paywall). Embodies an journalistic approach of accessibility and critical inquiry. Key figures: Tilo Jung, Hans Jessen. |
| Just Stop Oil | juststopoil.org | A UK climate activist coalition demanding an end to new fossil fuel licenses, known for high-stakes, disruptive direct action coordinated via digital platforms. | UK | Formed in 2022, it uses its online presence to explain its radical tactics and recruit activists. |
| Just Treatment | justtreatment.org | A UK patient-led activism platform that campaigns for fair access to medicines and healthcare, challenging pharmaceutical profits and drug pricing. | UK | Mobilizes patients and the public through high-profile petitions and media advocacy. |
| K-Monitor | k-monitor.hu/en | A leading Hungarian anti-corruption NGO that uses technology to track public spending, monitor asset declarations, and hold decision-makers accountable. | Hungary | Operates in a repressed civic space, making its watchdog function essential. Develops tools like PartiMAP and RedFlags.hu. Key figure: Sándor Léderer. |
| Kartographische Aktion | aktionskarten.noblogs.org | A collective that creates and distributes political action maps for anti-fascist, anti-capitalist, and ecological protests. | Germany | Explicitly designed to facilitate autonomous actions beyond officially sanctioned routes, providing key logistical and safety information for protestors. |
| Klimabevægelsen i Danmark (The Climate Movement in Denmark) | klimabevaegelsen.dk | A citizen-driven movement for climate action in Denmark. | Denmark | A grassroots organization that uses digital platforms to mobilize for climate protests and advocate for policy changes. |
| Klimaprotest.at | N/A | A coalition that organized major climate strikes in Vienna and has since evolved into a networking platform for the broader climate justice movement. | Austria | Connects established NGOs like Global 2000 and Attac with grassroots groups. |
| Led By Donkeys | https://www.ledbydonkeys.org/ | A British political campaign group known for its satirical, anti-Brexit stunts and billboards. | UK | A non-profit that uses viral online content and offline political art to critique politicians. |
| Let’s Do It, Romania! | letsdoitromania.ro | The digital platform of the Romanian branch of the global cleanup movement, allowing volunteers to report illegal waste sites on a national Waste Map. | Romania | The app automatically forwards reports to the competent local authorities for cleanup. |
| Letzte Generation (Last Generation) | N/A | A climate activist group known for disruptive protest methods, such as gluing themselves to streets. | Austria, Germany | The Austrian section announced in August 2024 that it would cease activities under this name. A key press spokesperson was Mina (27). |
| Mappa delle Manifestazioni in Italia | lu.ma/iomanifesto | An interactive online map and calendar of protests in Italy, crowdsourcing and displaying information on demonstrations, marches, and sit-ins across the country. | Italy | A grassroots initiative that serves as an information hub for activists and citizens looking to participate in protests. |
| Martin Sellner’s Telegram Channel (Telegramelite) | N/A (Telegram) | The primary communication and mobilization platform for Martin Sellner, the leader of the Identitarian Movement in Austria. | Austria | Used after being banned from mainstream platforms. Serves to distribute his own content and amplify other media in the far-right network. |
| mehr demokratie! | mehr-demokratie.de | An advocacy organization in Germany and Austria promoting direct democracy, citizen participation, and constitutional reform. | Germany, Austria | A key civil society actor that also supports municipalities in adopting digital participation tools like CONSUL. |
| Men In Black Denmark | N/A (Facebook) | A loosely organized protest movement that emerged in opposition to COVID-19 restrictions. | Denmark | Known for its confrontational demonstrations, which were often staged as media events for online dissemination. |
| Menéame | N/A | A Spanish social news aggregator where users submit and vote on news links, establishing a community-driven news agenda. | Spain | Widely perceived as having a left-leaning ideological bias. CEO: Daniel Seijo. |
| Miutcánk | miutcank.hu | A Hungarian local social media platform for neighbors, where residents of a street or area can connect, share information, and organize community events. | Hungary | The Hungarian Nextdoor, it became particularly important for coordinating mutual aid during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| Monithon | monithon.it | An independent Italian platform for the civic monitoring of public funding, allowing citizens to track and report on the implementation of EU and national funded projects. | Italy | A prime example of civic tech for accountability, with over 1,200 citizen-generated monitoring reports published. |
| MozaiQ | mozaiqlgbt.ro | A Romanian community and advocacy organization promoting the rights and solidarity of LGBTQIA+ people through community support, events like Pride, and public policy initiatives. | Romania | A key hub for civic participation in the fight for equality and inclusion in Romania. |
| Mumsnet | mumsnet.com | A highly influential UK parenting forum that has evolved into a major, female-dominated political interface, hosting direct webchats with senior politicians. | UK | Identified as a subaltern counter-public, it is a central space for gender-critical feminist discourse in the UK. |
| mySociety | www.mysociety.org | A UK-based non-profit social enterprise that has pioneered some of the country’s most well-known civic tech tools. | UK | A foundational organization in the global civic tech movement. Runs influential projects like TheyWorkForYou, WhatDoTheyKnow, and FixMyStreet. |
| NachDenkSeiten | www.nachdenkseiten.de | A German blog and media platform, originally left-critical, that has become a central actor of the Querfront (cross-front) scene. | Germany | Founded by Albrecht Müller. Spreads pro-Russian narratives and is seen as a propaganda instrument for the BSW (Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht). |
| Nextdoor | nextdoor.co.uk | A neighborhood-focused social network that functions as a hyperlocal bulletin board. Its UK user base surged during COVID-19 for coordinating mutual aid. | UK, Global | The UK is its largest market outside the US, with over 10 million users, making it an essential local organizing interface. |
| noÁr Mozgalom | noar.hu | A creative activist movement in Hungary that uses art, especially rap music videos, to raise awareness about social injustices and mobilize youth. | Hungary | Founded by actor-rapper Molnár Áron, it became a highly successful community-building and fundraising movement before going on hiatus in 2024. |
| Non Una Di Meno (NUDM) | nonunadimeno.wordpress.com | A decentralized transfeminist network in Italy, composed of local assemblies, which coordinates national actions like the March 8th feminist strike. | Italy | A key example of a networked, grassroots progressive movement, using a central blog for coordination and theoretical elaboration. |
| Nyomtass te is! | nyomtassteis.hu | A Hungarian community samizdat newspaper movement that distributes printed, independent news digests in small towns with limited access to free media. | Hungary | A 21st-century samizdat, it relies on hundreds of volunteers to print and hand out the newsletter to counter state propaganda. |
| Odysee | odysee.com | A video-sharing platform built on the LBRY blockchain protocol, often seen as a less-moderated alternative to YouTube. | Global | Used by extremist groups in Denmark, such as Generation Identitær, for content deemed too strong for YouTube. |
| openPetition | www.openpetition.eu | A non-profit, pan-European online petition platform aiming to strengthen the right to petition. | EU-wide (incl. Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy) | Forwards petitions reaching a quorum to elected officials. An ideologically open platform that hosts a wide variety of campaigns. |
| Organise | organise.network | A UK-based digital platform empowering workers to campaign for better pay and conditions, functioning as a digital trade union space. | UK | Saw explosive growth during the pandemic, reaching over 1.7 million members who use it to launch petitions and surveys on workplace issues. |
| Osoigo | osoigo.com | A Spanish political dialogue platform where citizens can ask questions to public officials, who commit to answering once a question receives enough support. | Spain | Has facilitated over 20,000 questions to politicians, bridging the gap between representatives and citizens. |
| partecipaMi | partecipami.it | A historic civic e-participation platform for Milan, Italy, run by the RCM Foundation, offering forums for public debate and citizen-led initiatives. | Italy (Milan) | Active since 2007, it operates as an independent civic space alongside the official municipal platform. |
| PartiMAP | partimap.eu | A map-based participatory questionnaire platform developed in Hungary, allowing citizens to provide geolocated feedback on local development projects. | Hungary | An open-source civic tech tool used by municipalities for consultations on urban mobility and public spaces. |
| Proteggo la protesta (I protect the protest) | N/A | A campaign by Amnesty International Italy. | Italy | Includes an interactive map and provides legal and practical resources to defend the right to peaceful protest in Italy. |
| r/hungary | N/A (Reddit) | A Hungarian-language subreddit on the platform Reddit. | Hungary | A popular forum for younger, tech-savvy, and often government-critical users to engage in anonymous and often sarcastic political discussion. |
| r/politica (Romania) | reddit.com/r/politica | A subreddit on the platform Reddit dedicated to Romanian politics. | Romania | An open space for news, opinions, and discussions on the entire spectrum of Romanian politics, from economy to political scandals. |
| r/ukpolitics | N/A (Reddit) | A major subreddit and one of the most significant hubs for political discussion in the United Kingdom. | UK | Functions as a news aggregator and debate forum. User base is noted to be predominantly young, male, and politically skewed to the centre-left. |
| Rețeaua Civică București (RCB) | reteauacivica.ro | A civic networking initiative that unites neighborhood groups and community organizations in Bucharest to advocate for better local governance. | Romania | Active since 2015, it acts as a unified voice for civil society in dialogue with the city administration. |
| Riparte il Futuro | riparteilfuturo.it | Italy’s largest online anti-corruption campaign and community, launched by Libera and Gruppo Abele, which has mobilized over a million supporters. | Italy | Its advocacy has contributed to the passage of major anti-corruption legislation in Italy. |
| România Curată | romaniacurata.ro | A Romanian civic and anti-corruption portal run by volunteers, serving as the voice of the Alliance for a Clean Romania (ARC). | Romania | Active since 2004, it monitors and exposes poor governance and provides citizens with anti-corruption tools. |
| Sindicato de Inquilinas de Madrid (Madrid Tenants’ Union) | inquilinato.org | A grassroots tenants’ union that uses a hybrid online/offline strategy to fight for housing rights. | Spain | Uses its website and social media for communication and fundraising to support offline actions like tenant pickets to stop evictions. |
| Skrivunder.net | skrivunder.net | A Danish online platform for creating and signing petitions, hosting a wide range of local and national campaigns on social and political issues. | Denmark | A central digital protest and mobilization channel in Denmark, with thousands of signature campaigns hosted. |
| Spacehive | spacehive.com | A UK-based civic crowdfunding platform where local communities can propose and fund projects like playgrounds, festivals, and community gardens. | UK | Blends fundraising with community organizing, often in partnership with local councils that provide matching funds. |
| Tecnologieciviche.eu | tecnologieciviche.eu | An Italian knowledge hub that maps and makes sense of the civic-tech field. | Italy | An aggregator of projects, definitions, and debates, aiming to build a compass for the heterogeneous sector. |
| The Student Room | N/A | A large UK-based student community forum. | UK | Has a dedicated politics forum, functioning as a space for deliberation and peer support among a younger, left-skewing demographic. |
| TheyWorkForYou | www.theyworkforyou.com | A UK parliamentary monitoring website that makes it easy for citizens to track the activities of their elected representatives. | UK | A mySociety project. Provides accessible records of parliamentary debates, voting histories, and expenses. A key tool for accountability. |
| TruthTeller (XR) | truthteller.life | A secure, anonymous whistleblowing platform launched by Extinction Rebellion (XR) in the UK to expose corporate and government climate wrongdoing. | UK | A novel participation interface for precision activism, enabling employees to contribute to climate accountability. |
| Tunisien.tn | N/A | An online forum in Tunisia. | Tunisia | An example of a traditional forum that still hosts political discussion. |
| U-Report Italia | italia.ureport.in | A UNICEF-backed participatory platform for youth in Italy, using messaging apps (WhatsApp, Telegram) to engage them in surveys on social and political issues. | Italy | Amplifies the voice of young people by collecting their opinions and presenting the data to media and institutions. |
| Umbrela Anticorupție Cluj | (Facebook: „Umbrela Anticorupție Cluj”) | An informal civic group in Cluj, Romania, that has been organizing anti-corruption protests and actions for over a decade. | Romania (Cluj) | A pillar of the local #rezist movement and a symbol of sustained civic vigilance. |
| UnHerd | N/A | A UK news and opinion site marketed as a home for heterodox thinkers challenging herd mentality. | UK | Funded by Paul Marshall (major GB News investor). Its focus on culture war topics and conservative-friendly foundations place it on the centre-right. |
| Ushahidi | ushahidi.com | An influential open-source crowdsourcing and mapping platform used globally for crisis response, election monitoring, and citizen reporting. | Global (incl. UK, ES) | Adopted by collectives in Spain and the UK for projects like mapping mutual aid during COVID-19 or hate crimes. |
| Vă vedem din Sibiu | (Facebook: „Vă vedem din Sibiu”) | A remarkable Romanian civic movement known for its daily silent protest held for 669 days in Sibiu to watch over the political class and defend the rule of law. | Romania (Sibiu) | Became an international symbol of creative and persistent civic vigilance after the 2017 anti-corruption protests. |
| WeAct | weact.campact.de | The petition platform of the German progressive NGO Campact e.V. | Germany | Explicitly not neutral, it aims for social, ecological, and democratic progress. Actively supports petitioners with campaign expertise to maximize political pressure. |
| WeMove Europe (YouMove) | wemove.eu | A pan-European platform for petitions and online campaigns on transnational issues, with a significant Italian community and a user-led portal called YouMove. | Europe-wide (incl. Italy) | Fosters cross-border solidarity and has successfully campaigned on issues like pesticides and migrant rights. |
| WhatDoTheyKnow | www.whatdotheyknow.com | A mySociety platform that streamlines the process of making Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to UK public bodies. | UK | Publishes the requests and responses online, creating a vast, public archive of government information. A vital tool for transparency and investigative journalism. |
| Wir machen Wien (We make Vienna) | wirmachen.wien | A platform that networks and supports citizen initiatives in the field of sustainable mobility and public space design in Vienna. | Austria | Emerged from the successful Platz für Wien petition. Led by activist Alec Hager. |
| Wiseland / Issue Manager | wiseland.it | A commercial GovTech platform that provides public administrations with a solution for managing citizen reports. | Italy | Turns citizen reports (e.g., potholes) into automated tasks for the administration, framing participation as a service optimization tool. |
| WriteToThem | writetothem.com | A simple-to-use website from mySociety that allows UK residents to easily contact their elected representatives by entering their postcode. | UK | Facilitates tens of thousands of messages to MPs annually, modernizing citizen-representative communication. |
| WZB ProtestMonitoring | wzb.eu/en/research/… | An academic project at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center that systematically monitors the German protest landscape. | Germany | Provides critical data and analysis on protest dynamics, using media coverage and other data sources. A macro-level view of non-electoral participation. |
| Y-Stop | y-stop.org | A UK mobile app and project that empowers people, especially youth, to safely handle and document police stop-and-search encounters. | UK | Functions as a participatory justice interface, turning smartphone recordings into actionable reports for accountability. |
3 Likes
If we want we could use this list in order to create a “ranking” similar to what I did for https://solidarityindex.arisingquo.com/. However, this would require us to come up with clear criteria against which to score and rank. My hunch is that this may be difficult and would probably not add much value. Let me know if you still want me to have a go.
Another metric we discussed is a rough estimation of the number of participants/reach. I could probably get some numbers for many of these, but validating if those numbers are correct would be the hard part.
Looks like a great place to start (interesting that UKIP ended in the list)!
How rough? Can you run a test on a sample of those and we can try to understand the accuracy?
It would be brilliant if some of the partners could take a look into these and see if they correspond to their research/scope (@danmercea @annageyer @ik344, @martongero, @Toma, @walfaelschung, @niccolo.bertuzzi)
Ah that should have been filtered out as a political party. Oversight on my end. Removed it now.
Yes, but only if we have a sample where we actually know the reach. Otherwise there will be no way to tell.
My methodology would just be to let a high powered reasoning model with web search access have a go at an estimation for each interface. I could script that, and it would probably take some time to run the script on the entire set. Estimations for most interfaces would probably be within a reasonable margin of error from the real number, but even if we had high accuracy with a small sample, the likelihood of hallucinations and pure guesses is high enough that at least a few numbers will be way off. If you want to be able to trust these numbers you would probably need to verify each one manually.
that would be really helpful if possible, @hugi !
Understood! I will write a new script to makes best-effort estimations for all of the platforms on the list.
I would also love to hear this feedback.
1 Like
This is a great list, well worth road-testing. Thanks @hugi! The best thing to do, I reckon, is to take some of the specific country examples and decide how we code them in conjunction with issues and using the codebook that @annageyer has developed and circulated.
2 Likes