According to Freedom House’s annual report on digital freedoms, at least 47 states have cut off their citizens from the flow of news and information across borders in response to real or perceived online threats. Some governments have invoked foreign interference to justify new censorship rules, while others have imposed localized shutdowns of Internet services, plunging their populations into digital obscurity. In Russia, for instance, over 190,000 websites have been blocked since the start of the war with Ukraine in 2022.
There’s no such thing as fatality, whether it’s online censorship or massive Internet blackouts, solutions do exist. Nothing2Hide implements them with its partners, NGOs, journalists, militants and activists. We’d like to present these projects with the first interested parties. During a half-day conference, our partners in Ukraine, Central Asia and Democratic Republic of the Congo will tell you how they have used digital tools to continue their fight for freedom of information.
Program
- Ukraine, Russia: providing information during the war
- Democratic Republic of Congo: keeping the news flowing during an election period (with repeated Internet blackouts)
- Afghanistan: circumventing digital censorship in a locked-down country
- Kyrgyzstan: creating emergency digital assistance for journalists in Central Asia
Guests
- Angela Grămadă, CFI coordinator of Yak Vdoma, a residence for Ukrainian journalists in Bucharest
- Akilimali Saleh Chomachoma, journalist with the Blogoma collective
- Sylvain Clament, President of Radio for Peace International
- Talant Sultanov, co-founder of the Internet Society Kyrgyzstan Chapter