>> this week, "global 3000" focuses on democracy. democracy, it seems, is on the decline. just last year, 67 countries saw setbacks to their citizens' civil liberties and political rights. the biggest threats to a democratic system are autocrats and populists. populists insist they speak for the people. only they, they say, know what is truly right and wrong. they meet tricky questions with

simple answers. when democracy is under threat, citizens take to the streets. civil society becomes active, using preferably non-violence as a form of resistance. and that requires clear messages and strong symbols. in serbia, we meet professionals in the field who say their most important weapon is humor. >> in protest or in life, it's all the same -- the person you want to be around is the person who can make you laugh. and in our experience in serbia, the government didn't know what to do with being mocked. because this people in power, they just think too highly and too seriously about themselves.

if you mock them, than they do something stupid. >> these two men are in a way professional revolutionaries. they come from belgrade. that's where their careers began. it was the mid-1990s. together with other students in the group otpor, they had a goal -- to topple then-president slobodan miloevic and set the stage for free elections. their tactic -- nonviolent resistance, much of it based on humor in action. >> people need to have something to -- they need to belong to something. so creating that impression like using humor, making it sexy and this kind of things -- and then people know who you are if you're doing something on the streets. it is important to have symbols and to create a brand because that's the way of life. >> otpor's symbol was a fist. day it's bn adopted a

logo by their new organization canvas. canvas trains and advis actists all over the world and offers seminars online. >> we've probably worked with people from 40, 50 different countries. i've lost count completely. and this ranges from small student groups fighting for justice or less rape on their campus to the large organizations that are shaking the autocratic governments across the world. our idea is that skills you bring in the conflict are more important then the conditions. you can have the worst conditions in the world, but if you have a skilled movement, then you can get the sucess. >> to increase a movement's chance of success, canvas provides protesters with books, training materials, and background videos. >> human rights, education, general welfare, corruption versus transpeacy & rulef law -- what you think is really

important. but it's not only that. it'slso about what your people think. why? because your vision ould never be only urs. it needs to be a shared vision. don't forget that you need people to join your movement and change the society. the more people share a vision, the more forceful it becomes. >> ok, we had a youth movement and the graffiti were the great solutions and rock concerts -- because that his how you see protest when you are in your teens. but than we get a lot of retired people. so of course they couldn't march with us on a harsh winter, we couldn't invite them to the places where teargas was used. but they have a lot of time in their hands. so when some of our guys was arrested, you get a list of people that are avaiable that day, and then immediately 70 retired people are calling the police station asking questions and putting pressure. and so you see -- you find a place for them in the movement. they're doing something and feel like they really helping the

movement. in fact, they're helping the movement -- they're helping the arrested person. >> popovic's team is a small one, and the canvas offices are hidden away in a residential area. there are 11 trainers in all, and they're often on the move, heading wherever their slls are needed. because the job can be a dangerous one, they don't want to be filmed. popovic provides the organization's public face. he has also taught nonviolent resistance at american universities for over a decade. >> the very dangerous thing that i see with new media is a phenomenon we call "clicktivism." so how many polar bears you have saved on facebook this morning by clicking "like" on a page. if you would be turning your computer off, it would actually help the polar bears more. the battles are won and lost in the real world. >> interestingly, climate change is a topic that doesn't mobilize

the masses. apparently, the more global a problem, the less likely people are to feel personally threatened. >> it's time for activists. it's time for helping across the world. it's time for international solidarity of the people, who define democracy. but it's also time for people in the west to wake up from their comfortable dream that democracy is something that is for granted for them. there is no living democracy without a society that is alive and kicking. >> tunisians proved themselves similarly defiant in late 2010 when they ousted their dictator ben ali. the event sparked the so-called arab spring, a series of protests and uprisings against rigid political systems, which spread throughout the arab world. most were brutally quashed or ended in civil war. in tunisia, it was mainly young people who demonstrated against the country's social inequality and corruption.

the first free elections took place in october 2011. nonetheless, the fledgling democracy is still finding its feet. >> 28-year old zied zarrai from tunis is a child of the revolution. >> i was there for the protests of 2009 when ben ali was still dictator. a lot of young people, students in particular, were detained at the university and thrown in prison. that's why i chose to campaign for my people, to fight for a different tunisia with democratic values. >> in the wake of the arab spring, zied zarrai and his fellow campaigners founded what they called the alternative youth network, known by its french acronym, r.a.j.

they campaign for environmental protection, jobs, and political change. there are big problems in the country -- economic growth is slow, and terrorism is still attracting too many young people. youth unemployment stands at more than 30% in tunisia and the political situation remains unable. >> we're convinced that ngos can bring about as much change as a political party. with politics, you get tied up in the election process. it takes so much effort. and tunisians have just had enough of politicians, especially after the revolution, when we had more than 120 parties. >> today, the activists and other ngos are meeting with the

minister of the environment. they're discussing preparations for the un climate change conference in november in bonn, germany. zied says this never happened under the dictator -- politicians actually discussing things with young people. >> ty have an important role to play in galvanising other people, so that they finally take notice of climate change. it has to become part of public discourse, and every single citizen needs to be aware of it. >> zied says people's relationship with politics is still far from what he thinks it should be. the country is still in transition. >> at least we can discuss things directly with ministers

these days. that's definitely a start. >> nonetheless, there's a feeling of disillusion among these young democrats, because power stays in the same hands. >> we still have to endure a class of old politicians who are clinging to power. they won't hand over to the younger generation. for the politicians, the young just want to leave the country, or they are still at school or university and aren't capable of governing or making decisions, even though it is the young who have brought about change here. >> zied zarrai says in the future as well, little will change in tunisia unless the young remain engaged and committed. >> women's involvement is key to change, too.

and that all starts with their representation in parliament. northern european countries have the greatest percentage of women in politics. in the rest of the world, the figures are increasing only slowly. in sub-saharan-africa, it's around 23.6%, and that's partly down to quotas. that figure is also roughly the global average. a we head to senegal to meet women who have to fight hard for their right to make a change. >> yama ndiaye is the organiser of this project, planting a special kind of grass and eucalyptus saplings which help desalinate the soil. she also brought together the women who are implementing the project, and got the local foresters involved. it has not been possible to grow crops here for two decades -- the soil is just too salty. >> when i was a child, we grew our own rice here in

joal-fadiouth, and never had to buy any. the same with peanuts and millet. >> the problem is the rising sea level. salt water is invading and destroying more and more fertile land. this dike was built five years ago, and provides some relief. ousmane gning works for an environmental ngo. he advises the women and helped them get funds from the un-backed green climate fund. he also helps farmers here. >> the vegetable growers also want to benefit from the fund. what can it do for them? they need to acquire new skills. you have helped us so far, but you mustn't leave us alone now. there is more to do. the money for this project did not come from senegal, but from an international fund. >> the soil the women are working on is still salty, but they want to find out whether they can already resume farming here. they have planted a small patch of rice as an experiment. they will know in about two

months if the soil is recovering and will yield a crop. a tanker truck suddenly appears. the driver h evidently just dumped a load of human waste. yama ndiaye is really angry. >> it is destructive. it disrupts the ecological balance. it is toxic. >> the truck does not have a number plate, and the driver wants to hide his face. the forester, mamadou sagna, is also a lieutenant in thermy. he takes the driver's id and driver's licence, and escorts the truck to the police station. yama ndiaye goes to see the mayor. >> monsieur le maire.

>> mamadou sagna also shows up. then yama ndiaye pitches her ideas. >> we were able to build the dike with money from the fund. now we want the local authorities to help us make use of the dike now that it is there, and get young people involved. many youngsters have already helped women plant trees. >> i applied to have water pipes laid to the plots of the young vegetable farmers -- and as far as the dike, so we would have enough water there. that would help desalinate the soil even more. but they rejected my application. >> so yama ndiaye won't get any more help here. in fact,he mayor says he has no more money to spend, and asks ousmane gning how he might get some from thgreen climate fund.

despite all the difficulties, the women have already achieved a lot. a year ago, the local authority gave yama ndiaye's women's cooperative the land they have been working on. it had been waste ground. the 40 women share the four-hectare plot. >> after the rainy season, the donors are going to drill a well and teach the women how to grow vegetables. then they will really get to work. >> women in senegal are at a great disadvantage, because only men inherit land. it is an exceptional opportunity for this women's collective to earn their own money here. in the evening, they drive to the coast, where they planted mangroves two years ago. this, too, is a project for which yama ndiaye got support from the climate fund. the women cut and plant shoots from their burgeoning mangroves. it is hard work, but this

reforestation project is bearing fruit. migratory birds stop by again, and shellfish have come back. yama ndiaye is thinking about farming oysters among the mangroves. that would combine environmental protection with female empowerment and what could prove to be a profitable business. >> participation and voting are key characteristics of modern democracy. democracy gives people a voice, including minorities. it involves political opposition, freedom of opinion and the press. all citizens are bound by the constitution which protects basic rights. there is a division of powers , and everyone is equal before the law. in sweden, it's precisely this -- democracy -- which is

celebrated for a week every year. >> it isn't easy to find somewhere to stay during almedalen week. the lucky ones find a spot in a classroom. it's a bit like a music festival, but this is a political event. this classroom is being shared by the green party and the liberals. 23-year-old law student oskar rydermark is a member of the youth wing of the center-right liberal party. >> we got the moderates a stair down. they are a little more right than we are. >> yeah, quite conservative. >> we've got the center party on the other side. >> the event takes place about 100 kilometers off the east coast of sweden on the island of gotland, in the medieval harbor city of visby. it's like a company team-building exercise, where you go on a retreat to bond with your colleagues. the change of pace and scenery fosters a feeling of common purpose. seminars and discussions start

early in the morning and continue all day. >> we get this closeness between each other. it's very easy to reach me as a politician and as mayor of gotland, and it's very easy to reach every other politician. so it's a very good way of actually get politicns nearer the people. because i think that is what democracy and solidarity grows from. >> it all started in 1968, when future prime minister olof palme got up on the back of a jeep and spoke to a couple of hundred people in almedalen park. when his social democrats started organizing political seminars here in the 1980s, other parties followed, organizing events here as well. almedalen week started growing into the phenomenon it is today.

about 40,000 people are here to talk about political issues, socialize, and share ideas. even the rain hasn't dampened the mood. today, the social democrats are presenting their draft program in the park. all eight of the parties represented in parliament get their turn. before the next round of discussion, about the global climate catastrophe, oskar takes a quick break. he says one goal of almedalen is to change our understanding of political debate. >> if you're going to do a metaphor of debating, the metaphor is war. like your words are ammunition, and you have a winner, you have a loser. and i think that's in some degree unhealthy for the political debate, or any discussion, because when you meet another person and have a discussion, you havene opportunity to walk away from that having learned something

you didn't know before. >> political scientist stig-björn ljunggren agrees that >> this is a part of the swedish this is the amodel. way. we're a country that hasn't had a proper revolution since the 1740-something. you know, if there's a conflict , we rather discuss it over a cup of coffee. we believe in let's discuss that later, or let's have a cup of coffee so the swedish model is more directed to trng to find solutions, pragmatic solutions. >> but there are some who critice almedalen. someomplain that it's become elitist and much too commercial. they say it's now the media that dictate the agenda, not the politicians. but international interest in this swedish invention is on the rise. >> democracy is a big word, and everyone says this word easily.

but it is more a practice. it is more a way of living. and weon't need to talk much. we need to practice democracy in our real life. >> it's the end of oskar's second almedalen experience. >> this is a concept of people coming together from different parts of government, society, and business. and that is something that is worth spreading across the globe. >> festivals modeled on almedalen have already started in norway, estonia, and denmark. >> this is the deutsches museum in munich, germany's museum devoted to masterpieces of science and technology. we are here to meet somebody who has written about the dangers posed by ai and big data. yvonne hofstetter is a lawyer and ceo of an it company. she says new technologies and social media are a threat to democracy. >> smartphones were introduced

just 10 years ago. steve jobs presented apple's first iphone in 2007. since then, society has changed radically, and it has not just changed in a way that we decided on in a democratic your smartphone, data are being gathered on who you talk to, who your contacts are, the state of your finances. all the data aren't just gathered and stored somewhere. the information is integrated to create a profile of you. and that profile is sold and traded. people make money out of you. this kind of profile does not capture your entire life -- you as a person. so what does it do? it is rather like forensic profiling in the search for a perpetrator. an offender profile is

generated. the things you click on, your likes, even if you don't actually post or write anything yourself on the internet, you will still be profiled on, for example, facebook or twitter. and inferences are made about whether you are a good citizen or a bad one, a good taxpayer, creditworthy or not, and so on and so forth. and if the information ends up in the hands of your employer or health insurer or the state, it could mean massive problems for you down the road. the trend is towards non-cooperative data collection. that means, data about us are collected without us even knowing -- our movements or pictures of us. it's data collection we have not authorized. all this conflicts with our basic rights, with our idea of wh a person is -- namely, an individual who is

free to decide who or what he or she wants to be or do, and how to shape a future. that is the basis of our society and our form of governance -- democracy. digitalization, the way we see it nowadays, is unregulated. it is driven mainly by american companies. over there, they don't have the same understanding of the concept of a constitution or the rule of law as we do in europe. when it began 20 years ago, we thought the internet was great. it was going to promote democracy. but now we see that the opposite is the case. i can organise a flamob via social media, or topple the government. but what then? in the aftermath, wi we have more democracy? social media are fragmenting society into a mass of individual opinions. and the creation of a mass is the precondition for the

emergence of autocratic rulers in elections. i am thinking quite specifically of the united states. consider the riots in charlottesville, the endorsement of violence. it is frightening, and it is the work of social media. the more chatter and outrage, the more money can be made. what's your opinion? >> do you agree? is social media a threat to democracy? tell us on facebook. follow us at "dw global society." and that was this week's democracy special. thanks for joining us. don't forget, we enjoy hearing from you. write to us at global3000@dw.com

or on facebook, dw global society. see you next time. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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