Session
Organizer 1: Akudo McGee, The London Story
Organizer 2: Sangeeta Mahapatra, German Institute for Global and Area Studies
Organizer 3: Lynch-Kelly Aisling , The London Story
Organizer 4: Hasanova Ulviya, The London Story
Organizer 2: Sangeeta Mahapatra, German Institute for Global and Area Studies
Organizer 3: Lynch-Kelly Aisling , The London Story
Organizer 4: Hasanova Ulviya, The London Story
Speaker 1: Sangeeta Mahapatra, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Dimitras Panayote , Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Manuvie Ritumbra , Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 4: Naik Raqib Hameed , Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 2: Dimitras Panayote , Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Manuvie Ritumbra , Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 4: Naik Raqib Hameed , Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Moderator
Akudo McGee, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Online Moderator
Lynch-Kelly Aisling , Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Rapporteur
Hasanova Ulviya, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Format
Roundtable
Duration (minutes): 90
Format description: The event is organized as a roundtable discussion, as this format allows multiple actors with varied experiences to make equitable contributions to the wider discussion. Event speakers offer diverse expertise, and the panel offers a strong multi-stakeholder perspective. This also invites participants to co-shape both the agenda and the expected outcomes, ensuring that the issues tackled, as well as the skills required to address these issues, suit their particular concerns, organisation, and desired outcomes. The diversity of speakers and participants also ensures that the knowledge created as a result of this session are applicable to a wider audience.
Duration (minutes): 90
Format description: The event is organized as a roundtable discussion, as this format allows multiple actors with varied experiences to make equitable contributions to the wider discussion. Event speakers offer diverse expertise, and the panel offers a strong multi-stakeholder perspective. This also invites participants to co-shape both the agenda and the expected outcomes, ensuring that the issues tackled, as well as the skills required to address these issues, suit their particular concerns, organisation, and desired outcomes. The diversity of speakers and participants also ensures that the knowledge created as a result of this session are applicable to a wider audience.
Policy Question(s)
(1) How can the EU's Digital Protection Act (DSA) and similar frameworks in the Global South hold Big Tech accountable for disrupting democracy and violating human rights? (2) How can we ensure equal protection of human and digital rights for the Global Majority compared to the Global Minority, considering the regulatory disparities between the EU and Global South? (3) How can grassroots movements in both the EU and Global South influence policy changes to ensure Big Tech accountability?
What will participants gain from attending this session? Participants are not only audience members but active co-shapers in a new agenda to press Big Tech platforms for accountability and democracy. We will directly address pressing dangers, such as the role of platforms in spreading misinformation, exercising undue influence on democratic processes, and threatening the lives of minority groups. Engaged in these conversations and ‘in the driving seat’ will be those whose lives have been directly affected by the adverse effects of online platforms and groups and policy makers who’ve spent their careers tackling these negative outcomes. We invite diverse members to engage in a conversation reflecting the viewpoints of the Global Majority and Global Minority and challenging us to think outside of our institutional groundings.
Description:
From TikTok influencing Romanian elections to Facebook boosting violent far-right vigilantes and Instagram influencing local elections, social media has directly impacted the lives and freedoms of individuals, especially the marginalized. With the new presidency in the US, Big Tech has further weakened its content moderation mechanisms on hateful and dangerous content. Sitting at a precarious point in internet governance, we convene this workshop to outline the most pressing concerns regarding internet governance and how to safeguard democratic practices and groundbreaking ideas for how we move forward. This session primarily tackles the question of how we citizens, policymakers, and civil society can respond to practices that threaten or undermine human rights and which policies, laws, and activities can be instrumentalized to hold Big Tech accountable. The event is organized as a roundtable discussion, as this format allows multiple actors with varied experiences to make equitable contributions to the wider discussion. Event speakers offer diverse expertise, and the panel offers a strong multi-stakeholder perspective. This panel, featuring academics, lawyers, activists, journalists, and tech experts, will generate feasible recommendations and build impact through on-ground application and dissemination. The event begins with the rapid framing and alignment of speakers’ multi-stakeholder perspectives (approximately 15 minutes). It then continues with an open discussion to collaboratively gather insights in a group discussion (30 minutes), and it ends in the group together prioritizing and synthesizing sustainable and innovative solutions through “multistakeholder matrix mapping” to extract the most important interventions in the last 45 minutes.
From TikTok influencing Romanian elections to Facebook boosting violent far-right vigilantes and Instagram influencing local elections, social media has directly impacted the lives and freedoms of individuals, especially the marginalized. With the new presidency in the US, Big Tech has further weakened its content moderation mechanisms on hateful and dangerous content. Sitting at a precarious point in internet governance, we convene this workshop to outline the most pressing concerns regarding internet governance and how to safeguard democratic practices and groundbreaking ideas for how we move forward. This session primarily tackles the question of how we citizens, policymakers, and civil society can respond to practices that threaten or undermine human rights and which policies, laws, and activities can be instrumentalized to hold Big Tech accountable. The event is organized as a roundtable discussion, as this format allows multiple actors with varied experiences to make equitable contributions to the wider discussion. Event speakers offer diverse expertise, and the panel offers a strong multi-stakeholder perspective. This panel, featuring academics, lawyers, activists, journalists, and tech experts, will generate feasible recommendations and build impact through on-ground application and dissemination. The event begins with the rapid framing and alignment of speakers’ multi-stakeholder perspectives (approximately 15 minutes). It then continues with an open discussion to collaboratively gather insights in a group discussion (30 minutes), and it ends in the group together prioritizing and synthesizing sustainable and innovative solutions through “multistakeholder matrix mapping” to extract the most important interventions in the last 45 minutes.
Expected Outcomes
We will move beyond describing the issue and into the realm of creating practical, stakeholder-driven outcomes, specifically coordinated strategies on implementing sustainable solutions for platforms, creating a roadmap of advocacy going forward, and strengthening existing participant networks which the IGF can use and build on. We also view this as the first of many future collaborations on the same topic and would like to schedule follow-up meetings on this topic together with several consortia in which we sit, such as People vs. Big Tech, the Global Coalition for Tech, and the Global Alliance Against Digital Hate & Extremism. This will ensure that the combined expertise and legacy of advocacy can be harnessed in future collaborations rather than 'reinventing the wheel' each time we come together.
Hybrid Format: We have held several hybrid (and online) events and are skilled in engaging an online audience and/or online speakers by splitting up questions so that the online speakers get an equal chance to engage. We will also test our systems a few days before the event to ensure that everything, from internet connection to the skills of the speaker to operate the online interface, is adequate to participate. We have had good experiences using online quiz apps like Kahoot! to keep audiences engaged and responding to questions, and of course, opening the floor to (virtual) raised hands and questions throughout the event ensures that the audience participates actively.