November 16-17, 2017
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Tiergartenstr. 35, Berlin

organised by iRights.international, hosted by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

Programme | Speakers

The FoME Symposium 2017 has come to an end. A big thank you to all participants – it was wonderful!

Audio recordings of all sessions are already available here. Video recordings will follow soon.

For the record:

In many countries, not only in the developing world, governments are pushing for more control over the Internet. Censoring content is a growth industry, and Internet and social network shutdowns in response to civil protest and unrest are on the rise. Online surveillance is exploding and people are being increasingly intimidated or detained because of their online activities.

Therefore it is vital for civil society and the media to work together in order to shape the Internet of the future and ensure it remains in the service of democracy. And the role of international media assistance needs to be reconsidered in this context.

At the 2017 Symposium of the Forum Media and Development (FoME) in Berlin (Nov. 16th & 17th), we will discuss recent developments, strategies and next steps with a range of international experts in the fields of media development and Internet governance:

• Chinmayi Arun, Centre for Communication Governance, Delhi
• Lynn St. Amour, Chair of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the Internet Governance Forum
• Guy Berger, Director of Division of Freedom of Expression and Media Development, UNESCO
• William Bird, Media Monitoring Africa, Johannesburg
• Harlem Désir, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
• Miriam Estrin, Google
• Helani Galpaya, LIRNEasia, Colombo, Sri Lanka
• Jeanette Hofmann, Berlin Social Science Center
• Joseph Nasongo, Commissioner, National Cohesion and Integration Commission, Kenya
• Mark Nelson, Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA), Washington, DC
• Nanjira Sambuli, World Wide Web Foundation, Nairobi
• Leo Van Audenhove, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
• and many more.

The FoME symposium will bring together journalists, media managers, media development specialists, activists, academics and representatives from government and private companies from around the world to exchange views and foster ideas to keep the Internet free and open – for media and citizens around the globe.

At the core of the symposium will be the following questions:

• How to address Internet filtering and blocking in authoritarian regimes?
• How to counter “fake news” without stifling freedom of expression?
• How to minimize risks emerging from cyber security initiatives?
• Should the media development community engage more in the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) processes?
• Should media development focus its attention more to international digital media enterprises?
• How to regulate or control the expansion of digital surveillance programs?
• Should digital information literacy be more prominent on the media development agenda?

The symposium is organised and hosted by iRights in cooperation with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. FoME is an initiative of 20 organisations from German-speaking countries active in international media development, including iRights, CAMECO, Deutsche Welle Akademie, ECPMF, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, GIZ, IDEM, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Reporters without Borders and others.

For inquiries please contact fome (at) iRights (dot) international