Digital security and the digital resilience pathway
Global Focus is happy to be part of the new global initiative Tech for Democracy, spearheaded by the Danish government. Tech for Democracy brings together civil society, governments, and the tech industry to work in global action to find concrete solutions to ensure that technology and digitalization work for – and not against - democracy and human rights. Global Focus is determined to ensure that global civil society and citizens’ voices are at the forefront of Tech for Democracy.
Global Focus invites you to be part of Tech for Democracy´s Days of Action - five days of multistakeholder dialogue on how technology can support democracy and human rights. Each Day of Action is dedicated to an overarching theme and will include a myriad of sessions hosted by actors from around the globe and across all time zones. All sessions are virtual on an encrypted platform and free of charge.
If you need Closed Captions for accessibility, then it is available in the meeting settings on the BlueJeans app. Otherwise we recommend using the browser to access the sessions on BlueJeans.
PROGRAMME:
THEMES:
Digital awareness and education, digital capacity building for CSOs and activists, digital first aid kit, digital tools and grassroot mobilisation etc.
{slider title="SESSION 1 - Electoral transparency facilitated by technology" class="icon"}
08:30-10:00 UTC+1
Kickstarted with the help of the Danish NGO, SILBA, Kloop Media has mobilised and trained thousands of election observers in Kyrgyzstan. We have developed online resources (apps, bots and a whole learning platform), which has helped our many observers identify and log electoral violations, automatised the procedures for legal complaints, and thus been responsible for re-elections to be held in three major cities in Kyrgyzstan, following the electoral violations we identified. We we are in the process of adapting our platform to be applicable in other countries and electoral systems.
ORGANIZERS
Kloop Media, Kyrgyzstan
SILBA (Initiative for Dialogue and Democracy), Denmark
SPEAKERS
Rinat Tuhvatshin, Kloop Media
Aizirek Almazbekova, Kloop Media
{slider title="SESSION 2 - Perspectives from the Global South in building resilience and exploring new tactics on digital security" class="icon"}
10:00-11:30 UTC+1
A large portion of youth culture nowadays is dominated by Internet Communication and Digital Technology. Youth are amongst the most affected, for better or for worse, by tech's rapid evolution. Therefore, it is integral for civil society to ensure that youth is digitally resilient and well positioned to harness the opportunities for strengthening democratic values presented by technology.
In this session, ActionAid Denmark will, together with attendants, unravel the intricacies of cybersecurity and present several tech-related local challenges and the respective local solutions developed or utilised to tackle them. In addition, a case will be presented by Whisper To Humanity, a Youth-led Feminist Organization, working to raise a generation of humans that are driven by knowledge and Equality. Whisper To Humanity is initiator and founder of the Whisper School Clubs, Whisper App and Whisper Community. At the session they will talk about how they use capacity building, self-care, knowledge sharing and community building as tools to effect change.
ORGANIZERS
ActionAid Denmark / Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke
SPEAKERS
Maryjacob Okwuosa, an intersectional feminist, education and gender advocate and founder of Whispers To Humanity.
Matey Nikolov, ActionAid Denmark, will moderate the session.
{slider title="SESSION 3 - “Source? Internet!?” – How to improve users’ orientation and boost digital media literacy in the jungle of disinformation and algorithms" class="icon"}
13:30-15:00 UTC+1
Healthy democracies need well-informed citizens! How well people are able to understand, classify and question news can influence whether people become susceptible to populists, lose trust in public institutions or spread false news to friends and family. The digital media literacy of our citizens has gained enormous importance in recent years and has become a critical factor for democracies worldwide.
More than ever, users are on their own online. For every single piece of news, they have to decide for themselves whether a source or piece of information is trustworthy for them. And whether they read it, like it, or even share it with others. It can be assumed that this profound change will continue to intensify in democratic societies in the coming years and it has already led to a number of political and social challenges. Social media platforms have started to address these challenges by helping their users with labels or content moderation, and so do civil society organizations and tech startups.
In this session hosted by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, we will discuss the need for an increased media literacy and present innovative tools like two media literacy games and and "nutrition labels" for AI-powered products.
ORGANIZERS
Alliance of Democracies
SPEAKERS
Olaf Böhnke, Senior Advisor to the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity (TCEI), Alliance of Democracies Foundation
Nikita Lukianets, Founder of Open Ethics
Ora Tanner, Co-founder of the The AI Education Project
Carlo Zensus, Election Integrity Project Associate at Alliance of Democracies Foundation
Moderation: Richard Walakira, Project Associate, Alliance of Democracies Foundation
{slider title="SESSION 4 - Cyber Bullying and Hate Speech and Young People’s Democratic Participation and Resiliency" class="icon"}
13:00-14:00 UTC+1
At present, youth’s participation on cyber space is very crucial since digital platforms can empower young people and act as the tools of campaigning, advocacy, accountability, movement, education, income, and expression for them. Unfortunately, for young people, online platforms are not safe either. Cyber bullying and hate speech towards young people, particularly young women, make them vulnerable, limit the spaces for expressing opinion, identity, rights and demands with dignity and respect, thus narrow the path of empowerment.
Activista Bangladesh and Global Platform of ActionAid Bangladesh jointly will organize a youth-led panel discussion on cyber bullying and its impact on young people’s democratic participation, and how youths are adopting cyber bullying. We invite global audience to join us.
ORGANIZERS
Global Platform of ActionAid Bangladesh
Activista Bangladesh
SPEAKERS
Swatil Mahmud, Founder, Swayong
Tanshnuva Anan, Transgender Right Activist
Ananda Kumar, Founder, Fakenewschecker.com
Mustapha Kammoun, Software engineer and civil society activist
Himansu Pandy, Young Peace builder, India
{slider title="SESSION 5 - EU and the civic space in a digital age" class="icon"}
14:00-15:00 UTC+1
The development of tech can provide useful tools to rethink the way populations and institutions can interact. Unfortunately, we are seeing a global trend where the digital space is being used to manipulate populations, promote disinformation, and limit people’s rights. Limitation of freedom of expression online is happening and we have seen governments have shut down internet to dissolve mobilization.
This development is highly problematic as it violates democratic values, rights and, not the least, disregards the legal foundation of the European Union. Therefore, the European Commission have set out an ambitious and comprehensive framework for the regulation of platforms and protection of fundamental rights online. The session will shed light on both the current and proposed framework by the European Union on the digital transformation.
The session aims at identifying and discussing the opportunities and limitations of the digital agenda and to debate the role of the fundamental rights, morals and ethics online.
ORGANIZERS
Nyt Europa
SPEAKERS
Emma Llanso, Director, Free Expression Project at Center for Democracy & Technology
{slider title="SESSION 6 - Making digital tech work to democratize local communities and support environmental justice" class="icon"}
14:00-15:00 UTC+1
Digital technologies pose increasingly complex and contextual challenges, threats and opportunities for democracy and human rights. Community-led development and deployment of digital technologies at very local levels has proven to be essential for achieving outcomes in which people affected by exclusion, discrimination and inequality are able to meaningfully use and shape the internet and digital technologies to meet their specific needs. The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) in partnership with Rhizomatica and a group of locally managed community networks, are working to contribute to enabling ecosystems for the emergency and growth of community networks and other community-based connectivity initiatives. At the same time, local community land and environmental defenders are increasingly facing threats and violations of their rights in their access and use of digital technologies.
Recent research conducted by Citizen Lab in Cambodia, Indonesia and the Philippines reveals how environmental defenders in rural areas have low levels of access to the internet and mobile networks, and often only have access to shared devices, creating additional risks and challenges for digital safety and security. Digital attacks against land and environmental defenders often target family and friends, and create a chilling effect in their communities. Most of the digital platforms and spaces in which these attacks occur are owned and operated by private companies that are far removed from the realities of these defenders, and are unable or unwilling to adequately address these attacks and rights violations. Community networks and community-led development and deployment of digital technologies offer real and viable alternatives that are rooted in the principles and values of the local communities that are involved.
Speakers in this session will share and reflect on their work and experiences in community-led development and deployment of digital technologies, including how these initiatives respond to ongoing threats to human rights and democracy. Participants will also be invited to reflect on how seeking tech solutions that are centered in local communities and environmental justice can meaningfully contribute to technological transformation that is conducive to and respectful of democracy and human rights. An expected output of this session will be the identification of good practices and recommendations to different stakeholders to center local communities and environmental justice in the development and deployment of digital technologies.
ORGANIZERS
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
SPEAKERS
Tamara Terso, Intervozes, Brazil
Sarbani Belur, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India
Carlos Baca, Rhizomatica, Mexico
Irene Poetranto, Citizen Lab, Canada
Moderator: Shawna Finnegan, Association for Progressive Communications (APC), Canada
{slider title="SESSION 7 - Human Rights Impact Assessments and Financing Digital Goods" class="icon"}
15:00-16:30 UTC+1
Governments, venture capitalists, sovereign wealth funds, and foundations invest heavily in technology; often without fully understanding the human rights impacts of technology they are invested in. This session will present human rights impact assessment frameworks for investors to consider and leverage as part of a growing call for public and private funders to conduct and share Human Rights Impact Assesments (HRIAs).
ORGANIZERS
Connect Humanity
SPEAKERS
Kat Duffy, VP of Global Technology Programs, Internews
Vanja Skoric, Program Director at The European Center for Not-for-Profit Law Stichting (ECNL)
Facilitator: Chris Worman, TechSoup
{slider title="SESSION 8 - Personal Data and the Influence Industry" class="icon"}
16:00-17:30 UTC+1
This talk will present how personal data is used in elections, what concerns we need to consider for voters, and what tools are available for investigating the topic further. The session will present the research of Tactical Tech's data and politics team, including personal experiences of research, as well as present questions to the audience for them to engage with the topic in relation to their own work.
ORGANIZERS
Tactical Tech
SPEAKERS
Dr. Amber Macintyre
Please register and select sessions below
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