Civitates' Tech & Democracy open call

6. mars 2025

Civitates – The European Democracy Fund is a pooled philanthropic fund that was set up in 2018 for the sole purpose of addressing democratic decline and closing civic space in Europe. The case for confronting these threats is growing increasingly urgent. Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the initiators and partners of Civitates.

Civitates has launched its Tech and Democracy open call to support organisations working to ensure safer, more inclusive online spaces (social media platforms, search engines etc.) by improving the enforcement of EU tech regulations at the national level.

This open call offers a unique opportunity to strengthen civil society’s role in holding the tech sector accountable, with a focus on key EU regulations such as the Digital Services Act, GDPR, AI Act or the European Media Freedom Act to name a few.

Focus countries: Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Romania, and the Netherlands

Total budget: €1,600,000 (up to €160,000 per grantee over two years)

Application deadline: March 14, 2025, 11:30 PM (CET)

Technology has transformed our relationship to information production, access and consumption.

Social media platforms are influential spaces where societal questions are debated and where most people get access to news. Search engines are the gateways through which we access information in a quick and convenient way on a daily basis. However, while the original promise was to give us unlimited access to knowledge and information, these services often give us a selection of information and content that is skewed, partial and leaning towards the extremes.

The EU tech rulebook (Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, General Data protection Regulation – GDPR, Transparency and targeting of political advertising regulation, Artificial Intelligence Act, European Media Freedom Act etc.) attempts to address these issues by establishing transparency and accountability mechanisms for the tech industry, balancing free speech and freedom from harassment online, increasing the protection of online users and expanding citizens’ rights.

The national level is crucial for EU tech regulation enforcement as governments, national authorities, and civil society act as an essential support and counterbalance system to the European institutions by ensuring compliance, handling complaints, conducting investigations, and preventing any attempts to weaken or circumvent these protections.

ABOUT THE CALL

Civitates is looking to support up to ten grantees that will be given flexible, core support of max €160,000 over two years.

The open call follows a two-steps approach where applicants are asked to submit a concept note, a budget and basic documents about the organisation. Civitates will shortlist the most promising applications and invite a limited number of organisations to submit full proposals and send additional documentation and information.

How to Apply:
Call for Proposals: Making online spaces safer, more trustworthy and inclusive – Civitates

Nyheter

Utlysning: Tilskudd til litteraturformidling i bibliotekene, 2025–26 

LITTERÆR BEREDSKAP



13. april 2025

Den rivende utviklingen av ny teknologi og sosiale medier har de senere år redusert vår evne til konsentrasjon og fordypende lesning. Samtidig står demokratiet, ytringsfriheten og den kritiske tenkningen under press fra autoritære strømninger. Bibliotekene spiller i en slik situasjon en vesentlig rolle for å opprettholde lesekompetanse, kunnskap og demokratisk dannelse.

Utlysning: Fritt Ords kritikerstipend 2025-2026

9. april 2025

Stiftelsen Fritt Ord utlyser 12 stipender à 250 000 kroner til kritikere som tar for seg kunst og kultur for norske aviser, TV og radio. To av stipendene er øremerket kritikk av dataspill. Fristen er 5. mai kl 15.

Programleder Sigrid Sollund i radiointervju, 23. januar 2020.

100 år med radiostemmer i de tusen hjem

7. april 2025

Vi markerer at norsk radio har eksistert i 100 år og ser fremover. Bli med på seminar med kringkastingssjefen, radioveteraner og et knippe forskere, historikere og foredragsholdere som til sammen gir et utfyllende bilde av norsk radio 1925 – 2025.

Tid og sted:
29. april 2025 kl. 1300-1700
Fritt Ord, Uranienborgveien 2, Oslo.

Løvene ved elven Tigris - norgespremiere under Arabiske Filmdager

24. mars 2025

Fritt Ord, Arabiske Filmdager og Indie Film Bergen inviterer til norgespremiere og visninger av «Løvene ved elven Tigris» av regissør Zaradasht Ahmed på Vika kino i Oslo under Arabiske Filmdager. Det er tre visninger med regissørsamtaler og samtaler om kulturarv i krig.

Fredag 4. april 2025 kl. 18.15 på Vika 1 (billetter), lørdag 5. april kl. 16.15 på Vika 4 (billetter) og søndag 6. april kl. 13.15 på Vika 3 (billetter). Billetter her.