Internet Freedom Festival, a civil society response to censorship and surveillance

“Joining Forces to Fight Censorship and Surveillance” is the motto of the Internet Freedom Festival (IFF) taking place in Valencia 1-6 March. The IFF has become one of the main worldwide events for activists, journalists and members of the technical community to gather around issues of surveillance, censorship and cirvumvention, with more than 800 participants this year.

As a “friend of the festival”, APC supports this space as relevant to advance internet rights in the context of increasing curtailment of freedom of expression worldwide. Issues like net neutrality, the legal situation of whistleblowers, new cyber crime regulations in a diversity of countries such as Pakistan, strategies to fight gender violence online and trainings on digital security are the focus of the festival, which offers opportunities to explore trends, challenges and joint strategies.

Both the contents and the formats are owned by the community, which is responsible for deciding the issues addressed. The result amounts to dozens of panels, conferences, workshops and side meetings divided in eight content tracks:

• Community and Communications

• Advocacy/Policy/Fundraising

• Design and Usability

• Diversity

• Gender

• Journalism and Media

• Trainings and Best Practices

• Tools and Security

At APC, we are joining the discussions with a special focus on the global South – through initiatives like the African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms, and the APC-IMPACT project – and with the aim to incorporate a feminist, gender equality perspective.

We are also supporting our large network of members and partners attending the festival, including Bytes for All Pakistan, Sulá Batsú, EngageMedia, Colnodo and Her Zimbabwe.

We will be blogging, tweeting and sharing the outcomes of the meetings. Stay tuned by:

• Following the IFF website

• Going through the IFF schedule

• Following the #InternetFF twitter hashtag

• Following @apc_news and our communications associate, @leila_na, who will be live tweeting from the festival.

We recommend:

• Session on Trollgate. Taking on Cyber Harassment

• Session on Organisational Security

• Session on Strengthening Advocacy for Internet Freedoms in Africa

• Session on Internet Rights in Pakistan

• Session on Collaborative Design of F.A.S.T. Internet Campaign

Some resources:

• The African Declaration on Internet Rights and Freedoms, an initiative to promote human rights standards and principles of openness in internet policy formulation and implementation in Africa.

• APC-IMPACT, a project aimed at promoting advocacy for change through technology in India, Malaysia and Pakistan.

• EXLILA, a project examining the state of internet freedoms in Latinoamerica.

• The Feminist Principles of the Internet. Have you every wondered what a feminist internet would look like? Check these 15 Principles.

• Take Back the Tech, on strategies and resources to counter violence against women online.

Photo: At the Internet Freedom Festival, Valencia, 2 March 2016. Source: Xnet.