SFLC.in in collaboration with Trust Law, Thompson Reuters Foundation is hosting a 2 day event on ‘Creating Safe Spaces Online’ on 21st-22nd of October 2020. The two day event will have a rountable, a panel as well as a Digital Security Training.
One of the newer threats to freedom of speech and expression and to creating a more inclusive economy, is the rising instances of harassment through online communications and on social media platforms, targeted especially at women. As an increasing number of organisations and individuals are moving their operations online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, trolling, abuse, harassment, hate and smear campaigns are on the rise. Online harassment is also a threat to media and press freedom. This often leads to self-censorship and legitimate professionals being discredited. With newer forms and terminologies used to describe various instances of harassment online, there is a greater need to create awareness and build knowledge so that such instances can be appropriately identified and acted on or reported.
The panel on 21st October 2020 between 5:45PM -7:00PM IST aims to bring together NGOs and individuals working in the space of freedom of speech & expression and media/press freedom to share, learn and collaborate on various aspects of online harassment in India. Through this panel we aim to look for possible solutions to help with problems that have arisen out of our life’s moving online due to COVID-19 especially that of women. Online harassment has proven to be a form of censorship and prevents netizens from practicing their right to free speech, especially for women and marginalized communities.
The panelists and the moderator are listed below –
Ms. Mishi Choudhary – Ms. Choudhary is a technology lawyer, licensed to practice in New York & India with a decade & a half of experience. She is the Legal Director of the New York based Software Freedom Law Center & the Founder of http://SFLC.IN. She will be the chair of the event and will be moderating the panel
Mr. Karti Chidambaram – Mr. Chidambaram is a Member of Parliament in the 17th Lok Sabha, representing the constituency of Sivaganga, Tamil Nadu. He is a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology. He is also a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
Ms. Akhila Kolishetty – Ms. Kolishetty is a Co-Director of End Cyber Abuse, a global collective of lawyers and human rights activists working to tackle technology-facilitated gender-based violence by raising awareness of rights, advocating for survivor-centered systems of justice, and advancing equitable design of technology to prevent gendered harms. Akhila is a lawyer, feminist policy advocate, and writer.
Ms. Bishakha Datta – Ms. Datta is an Indian film maker, activist and a former journalist. She is the co-founder and executive director of Point of View, based in Mumbai, a non-profit working in the area of gender, sexuality and women’s rights.
Ms. Trishna Kriplani – Ms. Kriplani is the Legal and Program Manager for South Asia at TrustLaw, Thomson Reuters Foundation. Her role includes a focus on building inclusive economies, trying to strengthen the role of business for change. At the foundation she does this by harnessing the power of law, media and building multi-stakeholder initiatives to influence systemic change. She has over a decade of experience in the legal and humanitarian sector. She is a qualified lawyer in India with a specialization in handling cases of corporate criminal liability.
The panel will be streamed live at https://youtu.be/TIzAAFwsiho
On the second day, that is on 22nd October, there will be a digital security training aimed at educating the partcipants on safe security practices online. The training is Hands-on and interactive. You can read more about the trainings at security.sflc.in. The training will be between 12-2PM
Participants can register for training at – http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/5912976/DST-TRAINING-SFLC.
You can contact us for more information at mail@sflc.in and for media queries at press@sflc.in
