We sent a message through the government short code 111, to 200,000 randomly selected numbers across Taiwan: “What should we do about deepfakes and scam ads, to...
We convened 447 people, a statistical microcosm of Taiwan, into groups of about ten in around 45 video rooms. Each group worked toward a proposal that could win...
One group said: label social media ads as “probably a scam,” like cigarette warning labels, unless the advertiser can provide a verified digital signature.
Another group said: if someone loses, say, 7 million dollars to an unsigned scam ad, then the platform that profited from the ad should share liability for the...
Another group asked: what about platforms without a local office? For example, at the time, TikTok had no Taiwan office. Their idea was: if a platform ignores l...
None of this targets content. None of this is censorship. It is about accountability and incentives.
We then used AI tools to summarize and weave proposals across tables, with human facilitators ensuring the process stayed transparent and faithful to what peopl...
More than 85 percent of the mini-public supported the final package, and the remaining 15 percent said they could live with it. It moved into law within three m...
And in 2025, that specific wave of unsigned deepfake investment ads largely disappeared in Taiwan. The problem was not “managed.” It was effectively shut down.
So, we showed we can tunnel through partisan fighting by asking a simple question: what should we do together?
That’s the will of the people, actually listening to the will of the people, and using people’s ideas, rather than censoring. It’s radical, and it’s also the pr...
Now imagine everyone here gets a text message: “What should we do about deepfakes? What’s your idea?” That could happen in Germany soon, too, if you sign up lat...
We’re exploring your tools and trying to bring them to Germany. It’s incredibly exciting.
Do you want to talk about the website, deutschland-was-geht.org ?
Yes. At SPRIND, I’m building the societal breakthrough innovation arm. We have founders and teams working on disruptive ideas, satellites, space, medicine, deep...
And I’m building the vertical for societal and state innovation, which is brand new, not even half a year old. We’re scouting internationally: what works best,...
You were at the very top of our list.
So at SPRIND Society, we’re asking: how do we disrupt education? How do we modernize the welfare state so it’s humane and fast?
In education, we invest in EdTech, but only where it can change the system. In social welfare, we’re investing in a project where people can apply for support i...
In Germany right now, trust in the state is alarmingly low, in some polls below 20 percent. We have to chan...
