On Friday 20 March we welcome 7amleh, The Arab Centre for the Advancement of Social Media, and Dutch digital privacy watchdog Bits of Freedom to our office. We will discuss digital rights because what happens online has direct consequences offline. We see this in the genocide in Gaza. By connecting international experiences with European policy, such as the Digital Services Act, we broaden the conversation: from Palestine to global Big Tech and back.
During the panel discussion, participants will discuss questions such as:
- What is the global impact of harmful social media policies?
- What is the role of large tech companies, with specific attention to Meta?
- The European context: what does the Digital Services Act mean for platform responsibility and why is this relevant to Palestine?
- What is the current digital situation in Palestine? Including examples of censorship, surveillance and platform complicity.
- What are the possibilities for accountability and international pressure?
The even will be held in English. There will be an opportunity for questions from the audience to the speakers. The event will be moderated by PAX policy expert Thomas van Gool.
About the speakers
Nadim Nashif is a digital rights advocate and social entrepreneur. He is the founder and director of 7amleh. He also founded Sabra, an independent Palestinian media platform. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Digital Democracy Initiative and the Global Reference Group of Deutsche Welle Akademie.
Lotje Beek works as a policy advisor at Bits of Freedom and is primarily involved in the fight against the dominance of Big Tech.
Lema Nazeeh is a Palestinian lawyer, former diplomat and digital rights advocate. She has years of experience in international human rights, non-violent resistance, diplomacy and civil society. She is Advocacy Manager at 7amleh, where she focuses on digital rights, the responsibilities of online platforms, EU policy processes and international advocacy for Palestinian rights around disinformation and discriminatory algorithms.
7amleh is one of our Palestinian partner organisations and is committed to protecting and promoting Palestinian digital rights. Bits of Freedom is a Dutch organisation dedicated to strengthening rights and freedoms in the digital domain.
Practical
- 🗓️ When: Friday March 20th, 14:00 – 15:30
- 📍 Where: PAX, Sint Jacobsstraat 12
3511 BS Utrecht - 🎟️ Tickets: tickets are free, but you need to register first. You can register by completing the form on the Dutch website.
Note
Eid, the sugar feast, may fall on the same day as this event. Due to the short duration of our Palestinian partner 7amleh’s visit to the Netherlands, we are forced to organise the event on this day. We hope you can attend, but please keep this in mind when registering.
