Audrey Tang wins Swedish award for using technology to empower citizens

Stockholm, Dec. 3 (CNA) Taiwan's cyber ambassador-at-large Audrey Tang (唐鳳) received Sweden's Right Livelihood Award on Tuesday, dedicating the honor to everyone who supports digital freedom and works for peace around the world.

"To be Taiwan's first Right Livelihood Laureate is not my honor alone, it is ours. To everyone who etched their mark on digital freedom, to everyone waging peace across the world, thank you," Tang said in her acceptance speech.

According to the Right Livelihood Foundation, Tang was recognized for transforming technology into a force for public good.

She helped build platforms such as "vTaiwan," strengthened government-civic tech collaboration through the "g0v" community, and created inclusive digital systems -- from declaring broadband a human right to coordinating real-time tools such as "Mask Map" during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The foundation said Tang was selected for "advancing the social use of digital technology to empower citizens, renew democracy and heal divides."

Tang is one of five recipients of the 2025 Right Livelihood Award, which is presented annually to honor leading global change-makers.

She served as Taiwan's first digital minister from 2022 to 2024, after six years as minister without portfolio for technology, and now serves as the country's cyber ambassador-at-large.

In her remarks, Tang said freedom and democracy "did not fall from the sky" but were "forged under intense pressure, cultivated by the blood, sweat, and tears of those who came before us."

"This is a challenge for all democracies facing backsliding: not to silence but to channel conflict. AI must not divide us with outrage; it must connect us through uncommon ground. We, the people, are the true superintelligence," she said.

Swedish-German writer Jakob von Uexkull created the Right Livelihood Award in 1980, after the Nobel Foundation's rejection of his idea to introduce prizes for individuals promoting social justice and environmental action, especially in the Global South.