A New Commitment to Open, Democratic Technology
Today we have signed the Copenhagen Pledge on Tech for Democracy, joining a coalition of organizations, governments, and civil society groups dedicated to ensuring digital technologies support democracy and human rights. This adds to our existing commitments under the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace and the Cybersecurity Tech Accord.
These collective initiatives underscore a central truth: developers, collaborating across borders, are essential to the digital infrastructure that modern societies rely on. Engaging a broader set of stakeholders in supporting policies that enable developers to do their best work—and that welcome more people into the field—is critical to maintaining that infrastructure.
Protecting the Open Internet
The Pledge emphasizes that digital technologies should be developed and used in ways that realize the vision of an open, accessible, interoperable, secure, and reliable Internet. That kind of Internet is what fosters democratic culture and civic resilience. It is also, not coincidentally, the kind that allows developers to collaborate effectively, build critical systems, and address the world’s most pressing problems. We urge all Pledge signatories and stakeholders everywhere to actively support this openness and to be cautious about actions that could undermine it.
Values in Design and Governance
The Pledge asks signatories to embed shared democratic values and a human rights–based approach across the design, development, deployment, and use of digital technologies. This aligns closely with our developer-first approach to content moderation. Our policies place developers at the center of moderating their own projects, prioritize transparency in enforcement, and are optimized for code collaboration. We have also contributed to industry norms for content moderation grounded in human rights.
Broadening Access
Another core tenet of the Pledge is using digital technology to close digital divides, with a special emphasis on marginalized, vulnerable, and disenfranchised groups. This mirrors our policy work to make the platform as accessible as possible, including efforts to keep GitHub fully available to developers in Iran.
Developers and Democracy, Together
We recognize that while progress has been made, there is more to do. Developers have a clear role in creating technology that supports democracy and human rights—and they benefit directly from doing so. The more trusted technology becomes, the more opportunities it creates. Resilient, inclusive technology strengthens resilient, inclusive societies. Over the long run, that benefits everyone, and we invite like-minded organizations to sign the Pledge as well.
