Frequently Asked Questions

  • The California Initiative for Technology and Democracy, also known as CITED, is a project of California Common Cause, a leading democracy reform and good government organization in California. CITED’s mission is to find state-level policy solutions to the threats that disinformation, AI, deepfakes, and other emerging technologies pose to our democracy and our elections. With bipartisan leadership and independent of industry, CITED will provide analysis and guidance divorced from partisanship and private agendas.

  • Disinformation and deepfakes, accelerated by AI, pose an existential threat to our democracy and elections, and as a country we are simply not ready. But while California has the opportunity and know-how to step into the leadership void left by a gridlocked Congress on this subject, Sacramento currently has no one to turn to on bills that regulate tech and social media platforms other than the tech industry's trade associations and lobbyists.

    CITED will supply California policymakers, press, and public at large with the impartial expertise necessary to meet this critical moment. CITED intends to:

    • Provide analysis of policy proposals from California, DC, and international actors

    • Make policy recommendations and develop new state-level policy proposals

    • Host events and forums on the intersection of democracy and technology

    • Offer public leadership, i.e., op-eds, social media commentary, media interviews

  • While some think tanks and advocacy organizations do focus on AI and democracy, all of them exist at the federal/national level. CITED is the first of its kind in California or, as far as we know, centered in any state. And many of those federal efforts seek to address AI's impact on society, industry, and all parts of life; CITED is exclusively focused on the threat AI/disinformation pose to democracy.

  • As we all painfully know, Congress has not shown itself capable of advancing meaningful reforms to meet the challenges our democracy now faces. It falls to states like California to fill this dangerous policy void. Fortunately, California is uniquely positioned for the task. As the birthplace of key tech innovations, California and its leadership has easy access to tech expertise in crafting reforms. But our policymaking infrastructure — including the Legislature, executive branch agencies, philanthropy, and civil society — needs an unbiased and nonpartisan entity like the California Initiative for Technology and Democracy that can provide expertise and recommendations, in a way that is independent of industry but also cognizant of industry’s incentives and business models.

  • Policy advances in California have frequently served as a model for other states and Washington DC and, in some rare but critical cases, actually driven nationwide change because of business pressures California places on industry. As an example, vehicles sold throughout the country now come with better emissions systems because automobile manufacturers do not want to make one set of cars to meet California’s high emissions standards and another set to meet lower standards elsewhere in the nation. We hope CITED can drive similar nationwide change.

  • CITED is proud to back a package of bills in 2025 designed to fight the new digital threats to our elections and democracy. These bills and all CITED policy recommendations are divorced from partisanship and ideology — safeguarding our democracy matters to every Californian regardless of party — and have been vetted by CITED leaders from tech, law, public policy, academia, civil rights, and civic engagement, as well as national leaders in the field. Visit Our Agenda page to see the full list of our priority bills for the 2025 legislative session.

  • Please consider supporting our work financially by making a donation. If you wish to partner with us, please contact us.

  • No. CITED receives no funding from tech companies or tech industry associations.