Biden says hard work ahead to bolster democracies

By AAMER MADHANI
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has wrapped up his two-day democracy summit, an event that was more about starting a global conversation about how best to halt backsliding than producing immediate results or expanding democracy’s reach. Biden and fellow leaders announced initiatives to stem autocracies from misusing big tech to stifle dissent, enhance election integrity, bolster independent media and other modest efforts that Biden said would “seed fertile ground for democracies to bloom around the world.” But the U.S. president also acknowledged the path ahead was difficult amid a rise of authoritarianism around the globe. Biden says he wants to reconvene leaders next year for an in-person summit.