Welcome to the Democracy Hackathon!

LAST UPDATED 7 May 2026

The Council of Europe is proud to host the Democracy Hackathon, a unique opportunity for creative minds to challenge traditional approaches and pioneer new ways to defend democracy and the rule of law.

By tackling the corrosive challenges of online hate speech and manipulations that our institutions and societies are not yet fully equipped to face, this event calls for bold, innovative solutions. This hackathon plays a key role in advancing the New Democratic Pact for Europe, launched as a follow-up to the Reykjavik Declaration.

With a strong focus on the Reykjavik Principles for Democracy, the Pact aims to revitalise democratic systems and safeguard a peaceful, free Europe. In the face of rising polarisation, declining trust, and growing digital threats, the need to renew and strengthen democracy has never been more urgent.

Our Objective

The objective of the Democracy Hackathon is to develop innovative, scalable solutions that:

• Defend Democratic Values: Protect freedom of expression while effectively countering hate speech in the digital age.
• Balance Privacy and Utility: Innovate Hate Speech Detection (HSD) tools that remain identity-agnostic, i.e. allowing hate speech to be identified but not the individual(s) responsible, to prevent re-identification and doxing (where an individual’s personal information is disclosed online without their consent).
• Foster Collaboration: Bring together technologists, legal experts, and designers to create tools that can be integrated into the implementation of the New Democratic Pact.

1. OVERVIEW

The Council of Europe (“Host”) is the Host of the Democracy Hackathon. The event is facilitated by Kreativdistrikt S.r.l. (“Facilitator” or “KDKT”). Together, they are referred to as the “Hackathon Organisers”. This event is a premier milestone of the Roadmap Towards a New Democratic Pact for Europe.

2. APPLICATION PHASE: CONCEPT SUMMARY SUBMISSION

To be considered for the Democracy Hackathon, pre-formed teams must submit a Concept Summary on the official website https://democracyhackathon.coe.int/ (maximum 2 pages) by 5 June 2026 at 12:00 CET. This is a competitive selection process designed to identify the most promising multidisciplinary ideas to move forward to the Hackathon at the Palais de l’Europe in Strasbourg.

The Concept Summary should include the following: 

• Problem & Solution Fit: A clear description of how the tool or policy addresses hate speech while ensuring the protection of the privacy of individuals.
• Integrated Innovation: An overview of the technical engine (AI/NLP), human rights guardrails (Policy/Law), and user experience (UX/UI).
• Potential for Impact: Preliminary strategies for testing, scaling, or transitioning the solution into a real-world startup.
• Human Rights by Design: Submissions must clearly demonstrate that the solution is grounded in human rights principles and the values of the New Democratic Pact.
• Eligibility: All team members must be residents of a Council of Europe Member State.
• Team Size: Teams must consist of 3 to 4 members to ensure the multidisciplinary “Technologist, Advocate, Designer” structure is met.
• The Advocate (Policy & Law): The “Architect of Logic.” They use current Council of Europe policy models (like Convention 108+) to define the legal guardrails and ethical “rules of the road” for the tool. Their goal is to ensure the platform inspires policy discussions by demonstrating how rights are protected in practice.
• The Technologist (Engineering & AI): The “Engine Builder.” They implement the solution using open-source tools and libraries. By avoiding “black box” proprietary software, they ensure the tool is transparent, auditable, and aligned with the Council’s commitment to open and accountable technology. Participants using Open Source Software (OSS) must ensure full compliance with the relevant OSS licences. Any infringement of OSS licences may result in liability toward the original developers and could negatively impact the participants’ ownership of the resulting Intellectual Property.
• The Designer (UX & Visualisation): The “Bridge to the Public.” They translate complex data and legal concepts into a visible, intuitive interface. Their job is to ensure that both the jury and end-users can clearly see and understand how the “Human Rights by Design” features function.
• Language: All submissions and the final Dragon’s Den pitch must be in English.

By submitting an application and Concept Summary, all participants are deemed to have accepted these Terms and Conditions, the Code of Conduct and Privacy Notice. 

3. SELECTION PROCESS AND PRE-EVENT PHASE

• Expert Evaluation: A panel of experts will evaluate submissions based on novelty, multidisciplinary nature, feasibility, and alignment with the Pact’s goals.
• Alignment & Policy Logic 40%
• Technical Innovation 40%
• Multidisciplinary Synergy 20%
• Selection Announcement: Successful teams selected to take part in the Hackathon, based on their application and Concept Summary, will be notified on 5 June.
• The Prize of Participation: Once selected, teams will be onboarded onto a dedicated digital platform and receive a Technical & Policy Starter Kit. This includes internal Council of Europe briefing materials and access to curated Open Source AI libraries for these challenges. The provision of these materials does not exempt participants from their obligation to comply with all applicable Open Source Software (OSS) licences. Participants remain solely responsible for ensuring that their use of any tools or libraries—including those provided in the Starter Kit—complies with relevant third-party intellectual property rights and licences.

Teams will gain direct access to high-level Mentors, experts in international law, IT, and UX design. 

• Warm-up Phase: Selected teams will participate in five online sessions between 10 and 16 June. These sessions will cover challenges, tools, and technical requirements.

4. TRAVEL AND LOGISTICS (KDKT COORDINATION)

While travel and accommodation are funded by the Council of Europe, KDKT will act as the operational coordinator to manage all logistics for the 80 selected participants.

• Ticket Provision: KDKT will book and issue flight or train tickets to each team member directly.
• Verification: A KDKT staff member will contact participants to verify Identification Documents and confirm departure details.
• Liability Limitation: KDKT acts solely as the facilitator for ticket issuance. KDKT is not responsible for the loss of transport, missed departures, or costs incurred due to changes made by the participant to agreed-upon itineraries.
• Financial Scope: All transport, accommodation, and meal arrangements are strictly subject to the limits and conditions defined in Section 6 below.

5. KEY DATES

Participants should note the following key dates and must strictly adhere to the following timeline:

• Application Period (Submission of Concept Summaries):   11 May – 5 June .
• Selected Teams Announcement: 7 June.
• Warm-up Online Sessions (4 sessions): 10 – 16 June.
• Live Hackathon (Strasbourg): 17 June – 19 June.

6. COSTS (TRANSPORT, ACCOMMODATION AND MEALS)

• Full Coverage: KDKT will book and provide selected participants with a round-trip ticket (Flight or Train) to Strasbourg. Accommodation is covered for 4 nights, specifically from check-in on 16 June to check-out on 20 June 2026.

Event Catering: Meals are provided for participants exclusively within the Council of Europe venue during official Hackathon hours.

Exclusions (Personal Expenses): * Local Transit: Participants are responsible for their own local movement and commuting expenses (e.g., taxis, trams, or buses within Strasbourg).

• External Meals: Any food or beverages purchased outside the official venue or outside of Hackathon hours are the sole responsibility of the participant.
• Incidental Costs: Any costs not explicitly mentioned (e.g., visa fees, travel insurance, or personal expenses) will not be covered by the Host or KDKT.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (IP) RIGHTS

7.1 Ownership of Rights: Participants shall retain all intellectual property rights in the deliverables and related materials developed by them in connection with the Hackathon, including digital tools, code, and algorithms.

7.2 Licence to the Host: By participating in the Hackathon, the participants grant to the Host a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and worldwide licence to use, reproduce, display, modify, and distribute all deliverables and related materials developed in connection with the Hackathon. This licence includes the right for the Host to sub-license, assign, or transfer these rights at its sole discretion.

7.3 Open Source Compliance: Participants are responsible for ensuring that their deliverables comply with all relevant Open Source Software (OSS) licences. Participants acknowledge that any infringement of third-party OSS licences may result in legal liability and may prejudice their claim to IP ownership under Section 7.1.

7.4 Public Interest and Non-Commercial Use: Without prejudice to the Host’s licence rights, the materials created are intended to contribute to the public good. While participants retain ownership, any usage of the deliverables by third parties shall be strictly limited to non-commercial purposes.

7.5 Hackathon Organisers’ IP: Any platforms, data, or other materials owned by the Hackathon Organisers made available to participants shall remain the exclusive property of the Organisers. These materials shall only be used during the Hackathon, subject to the authorisation of the Hackathon Organisers. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions constitutes a transfer of any intellectual property rights from the Hackathon Organisers to the participants.

7.6 Warranties: Participants warrant that their Concept Summary and any deliverables and related materials developed in connection with the Hackathon shall not:

• (i) Infringe upon any privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights, or any other rights of any person or party;
• (ii) Breach any law, regulation, rule, code, or Open Source licence obligation;
• (iii) Contain any software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment.

8. LIABILITY AND GROUNDS FOR DISQUALIFICATION AND EXPULSION

The Host is fully entitled to shorten, extend, modify, or cancel the Hackathon in any manner it deems fit without incurring any liability to the participants or any third party. The Host is fully entitled at any stage to disqualify or expel a participant or a team that does not abide by these Terms and Conditions or acts in any way deemed inappropriate by the Host, including in the following cases:

• Legal Non-Compliance: Proposals deemed inherently non-compliant with Council of Europe data protection standards, including the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (ETS No. 108), or human rights frameworks and standards, including under the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ETS No. 005) (ECHR);
• Ethical Violations: Projects found to facilitate defamation, unauthorised surveillance, or the silencing of authentic voices; and

Conduct: Failure to abide by the Code of Conduct.

Financial Liability: Paragraph 6 of the Code of Conduct: Democracy Hackathon sets out the financial consequences of disqualification and/or expulsion. 

The Hackathon Organisers shall not be responsible, and assume no liability, for (i) lost, misdirected, or late submissions; (ii) electronic transmission errors; (iii) theft, destruction, change of, or unauthorized access to, submissions; (iv) technical problems, malfunctions or errors in the operation of any hardware or software which is necessary for the transmission of submissions or for the procedure of the Hackathon, including computer viruses and bugs, or for manipulations, unauthorized access, scams, overload of the Internet or a website or any combinations of these; or (v) any injury or damage to a participant’s or any other person’s electronic device resulting from participation in this Hackathon or downloading any data as part thereof. In case any of the above should occur, the Hackathon Organisers retain the right, in their sole discretion, to adjust, change, postpone or cancel the Hackathon in any manner they deem fit, or to take any other action they deem appropriate, including, without limitation, disqualifying any participant who wrongfully causes any of the above to occur. The Hackathon Organisers reserve all rights to recover damages and to take any recourse measures that may be available to them against any such participant.

Participants who are employees of a corporation, government agency, or academic institution are responsible for ensuring that their participation complies with any policies their respective corporation, agency or institution may have regarding participation in external events such as the Hackathon. If the Hackathon Organisers have reason to believe that a participant has violated any such internal policies, the Hackathon Organisers reserve the right to prohibit the participant from participating in the Hackathon. The Hackathon Organisers assume no liability and are not responsible for any disputes arising between a participant and his/her employer with respect to participation in the Hackathon.

The Hackathon Organisers’ decision in relation to any aspects of the Hackathon is final and binding on every participant, and there shall be no appeal or review process for any such decision.

9. EVALUATION AND THE “DRAGON’S DEN” COMPETITION

• Dragon’s Den Format: The Democracy Hackathon will culminate in a Dragon’s Den competition on 19 June. All teams will pitch their final prototype to a jury panel in a high-intensity format: 5 minutes to present, followed by a 3-minute Q&A.
• Phase 1 – Challenge Winners: Four challenge-specific jury panels will evaluate teams simultaneously, one panel per challenge, and each will select one winning team. This results in four challenge winners.
• Phase 2 – Overall Winner: The four challenge winners will then compete in the Dragon’s Den finale before an overall jury panel, in front of the full audience. The overall jury will select a single winner from among them.
• Jury Composition: Each jury will include multidisciplinary experts from the Council of Europe, academia, and the private sector, evaluating teams based on criteria established during the warm-up phase. Jury composition for each phase is at the Host’s discretion.
• Announcement of Winners: To maintain the momentum of the live event, the winners will be announced right after the jury’s final deliberation following the Dragon’s Den session. A total prize of 50.000 Euros is available for the Hackathon. This total amount will be shared amongst the winning teams for the overall prize and individual challenge prizes during the Hackathon. The awarding of the prize and the allocation of the available prize fund to each individual challenge or award remain at the discretion of the Host. 
• Finality of Decision: The jury’s decision is final and binding on all participants, and there shall be no appeal or review process regarding the evaluation.

The criteria for the winner’s selection will be announced during the warm-up phase via email and on the terms and conditions page between 10 and 16 June.

10. CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA PROTECTION

• Non-Disclosure: Participants agree to hold in confidence and not disclose any confidential information obtained from the Hackathon Organisers during the course of the Hackathon. Confidential information includes, but is not limited to, all technical data, financial data or personal information obtained during the Hackathon. Participants agree to use any such confidential information solely for the purposes of participating in the Hackathon, and shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that any such information is not disclosed or distributed to any third party without the prior written consent of the Hackathon Organisers. 

• Privacy: Participants acknowledge that they have read the privacy notice, a copy of which has been provided to applicants along with these Terms and Conditions. When registering for the Hackathon, applicants are asked to provide consent for the processing of their personal data by KDKT and the Host for the purposes of event management and travel coordination, as well as in relation to official photos and video recordings that will be taken during the Hackathon event and which may be used on the internet, social networks and other forms of public communication of the Council of Europe. 

11. INDEMNITY

As a condition of participation in this Hackathon, and/or access to and use of any platforms and data of the Hackathon Organisers, participants agree to indemnify the Hackathon Organisers, their subcontractors, successors and assigns for all damages, costs, expenses and other liabilities, including but not limited to legal fees and expenses, relating to any claim arising out of or related to participation in the Hackathon and access to and use of the platforms or data of the Hackathon Organisers, or the participant’s breach of these Terms & Conditions, as well as any applicable law or the rights of another person or party. 

12. DISPUTE SETTLEMENT 

Any dispute regarding this Hackathon shall—failing a friendly settlement—be submitted to arbitration in compliance with Rule No. 481 of 27 February 1976 laying down the arbitration procedure for disputes between the Council and private persons concerning goods provided, services rendered or purchases of immovable property on behalf of the Council. 

13. VARIATION AND TERMINATION

The Hackathon Organisers reserve the right to change these Terms and Conditions and to add and/or remove any provisions from these Terms and Conditions at any time (including before and during the Hackathon), for any reason and in any manner they deem fit.

All provisions of these Terms and Conditions which, by their nature, should remain in force in case of termination, shall remain in force, including, but not limited to, the provisions concerning intellectual property rights, indemnity, liability, confidentiality and data protection.