The Citizens is a not-for-profit journalism and campaigning organisation with a focus on technology and politics. We use storytelling to power movements that confront the unchecked power of Big Tech and states.
About us
Big Tech wants to override democracy. Join us to stop them.
At an alarming pace, we’re watching a new nexus of money, politics and information control take over our democratic systems. Fuelled by endless cash, data, and algorithmic might, power is being seized by an oligarchy of Tech Bros.
We’ve been warning about this for years. But it’s no longer enough to just sound the alarm. There is another way.
Join us for Big Tech reporting that goes beyond the headlines and cuts to the heart of the matter. This story is about power and control: Big Tech’s economic monopolisation and tightening grip on global politics. It is about nation-states using technology in the name of efficiency and putting power in the hands of authoritarians. It is about what happens when Big Tech and politics form an unholy alliance against journalists, activists and researchers challenging them.
We need to tell a new story – and build new platforms to share them. The Citizens are writing that story – and building those platforms.
With you, The Citizens is building a grassroots movement to challenge the mainstream ‘narrative of doom’ that the Tech Bro takeover is inevitable. We are delivering community events with experts and leading thinkers, many of whom are under threat by authoritarian regimes. We are organising practical workshops on the best way to navigate our online world. And we are creating a network of vehicles – from newsletters to films and podcasts – to reach and activate new audiences.
We are building a new political consciousness to challenge the power of Big Tech. What is happening in the US is a warning. Join us.
Who are we:
Founded in 2020 by Carole Cadwalladr, Orwell prize winning investigative journalist, the Citizens is a diverse collection of journalists, researchers and activists committed to curbing the unchecked power of states and technology corporations.
Following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, it became clear that social media was putting our democracy at risk. Since then Big Tech and Big Data have exacerbated the problem. ‘Tech & State’ have entered an unholy alliance. Hence, we built this organisation to not only tell stories about Big Tech’s growing political capture, but to find new and creative ways to challenge their narratives and take action against them.
We are a small team with a big network. From Nobel Laureate Maria Ressia in the Philippines, author and activist Shoshana Zuboff in the United States, Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia in the United Kingdom and hundreds more; we channel much needed global expertise into creative output and community events, building an alternative public square to challenge Big Tech domination.
You can follow our work by subscribing to our newsletters The Citizens Dispatch and Citizens Reunited, and keep up to date with actions and opinions on the latest in Tech policy by signing up to The People.
What we’ve already done:
- We produced the chart-topping 10-part podcast series Sergei & The Westminster Spy Ring that exposes an alleged secret spy ring operating at the very heart of the British establishment.
- We are bringing public understanding of tech-authoritarianism to as many people as possible by partnering with Oscar Winning Director Asif Kapadia on his new documentary feature – 2073.
- We have developed the ‘Big Tech Narrative initiative’ with Doc Society to find new global filmmaking talent focused on technology and democracy.
- We have created public-facing communications campaigns to deal with urgent global events, like the creation of Independent SAGE during the Covid pandemic, and The Real Facebook Oversight Board forcing Facebook to take emergency measures to protect the 2020 US elections and our own AI counter summit.
- We have taken three legal actions against the UK government including one now with the European Court of Human Rights about Russian interference in UK democracy.
- We have taken legal action against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seeking redacted files about Cambridge Analytica to be made public.
- We have used our platform to support and amplify voices of hundreds of organisations and activists around the world in the tech justice space – from our US strategic communications to a regular newsletter with the People v Big Tech.
Join us to be part of the pushback.
Ways To Support Us
Subscriptions. You can opt-in for a paid plan on our Substack newsletter and broadcast channel Citizens Reunited, which will give you fast, timely and exclusive access to monthly salons with platform leaders, academics and thinkers, quarterly convenings with our Big Tech Oversight Board, and access to other live events, screenings, and action guides.
Membership. If you are less interested in our live events and broadcasts, but want to access our reporting, and community actions and workshops, you can sign up to the Citizens Dispatch, which we run on an open and nonprofit platform called Ghost. There, you can support us via recurring monthly donations. All the content on this newsletter is open and paywall-free.Â
One-off and flexible donations. If you simply want to support our mission and enable us to carry out actions and campaigns against unwieldy Big Tech and State power, you can make a one-off or recurring donation here on our main website as well. (Note: This would automatically NOT give you access to any of our newsletters, which you will have to opt-in for separately on those platforms.)Â
Our Core Team:
Clara MaguireExecutive Director
Carole CadwalladrFounder & Board Member
Alice McCoolNewsletter Editor and Journalist
Ben WyskidaCampaigns and Communications Lead
Mikaela BeardsleyBoard Member
Manasa NarayananMultiplatform Journalist
Sabrina ProvenzaniSocial Media Lead and Journalist
How are we funded:
The Citizens is funded through public donations including subscriptions and grants from philanthropic organisations. We are a non-profit organisation, limited by guarantee. Company information here.
We have received grants from the following organisations:
Contact us:
General enquiries: info@the-citizens.com
Press enquiries: media@the-citizens.com