3 - 6 October 2011 Global Voices Online, Nawaat and the Heinrich Böll Foundation Middle East co-hosted the 3rd Arab Bloggers Meeting in Tunis with around 100 participants from more than 20 countries.
Digital activism has played a crucial role in the recent uprisings across the Arab world. Internet activists in Arab countries today are more aware of their potential influence and power, and are increasingly looking at how to become engaged in transitional democracy, transparency and governance strategies.
With the unfolding of the Arab revolutions, citizen journalists have become among the only few credible voices of keeping the world abreast of such developments and coordinating efforts on the ground.
The 2nd Arab Blogger's Meeting took place in Beirut, Lebanon in December 2009 and succeeded in building an alliance of bloggers and activists who supported each other before, during and after what is one of the most turbulent political moments in the region's recent history.
Building on that success, the 3rd Arab Blogger's Meeting addressed the significant challenges that still exist for freedom of speech and censorship, and discussed possible contributions of digital activism to shaping the political developments of the region, altogether raising the level of ambition for what digital citizens can achieve working together in this transitional era of democracy.
Selected Links
- Tunisia Live - Third Arab Bloggers Meeting: Highlights and Challenges in the Digital Age
- Beirutiyat - Borders Vs. Bloggers
- Al Jazeera English - Bloggers say Arab Spring has gone global
- Al Jazeera English - Transforming Tunisia's internet agency
- The Black Iris - At The Third Arab Bloggers Meeting In Tunisia
- Jilian C. York - Arabloggers 2011: Tunisian Voices
- Jilian C. York - Arabloggers 2011 – Day One, Part One
- Meedan - The first Meeting of Arab Bloggers after the Arab Spring
- 7iber.com - From the Third Arab Bloggers Meeting in Tunisia
- Leila Nachawati - At the Third Arab Bloggers meeting: “Welcome to Free Tunisia”
- Global Voices - Arab Bloggers Meet in Tunis
- Global Voices - Tunisia: Arab Bloggers Discuss the Situation in Syria
- Global Voices - Palestine: Blogger Rasha Hilwi Not Welcome in Tunisia
- NOW Lebanon - Bloggers inspire change beyond Arab Spring
- mediaoriente - Wrapping up the Third Arab Bloggers meeting
- arabbloggers.com - Arabloggers Discuss Syrian Digital Activism
- The Guardian - The first Arab Bloggers Meeting was private and low key. Not this year's
- sudanesethinker.com - In the Heart of Tunisia: A Journey to the Epicenter of the New Arab World
Program
Day One: October 3rd, 2011
This year’s event addressed an exhaustive list of issues, determined by the bloggers attending the bar camp event, where the agenda was set by the delegates. The four-day event kicked off with a conference on the first day, where keynote speakers addressed issues like IT policies; digital activism; the role of social media in a transitional democracy; why the revolution has succeeded in Tunisia and Egypt and struggled and stalled elsewhere; and other issues.
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9:00 – |
Opening |
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9:15 – |
Rebecca MacKinnon: Fighting for Our Digital Rights: Threats and Opportunities |
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9:45 – |
Panel Discussion: The Revolution Shall be Twitterised |
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10:45 – |
Moez Chakchouk: Towards the Development of internet in Tunisia: New challenges |
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11:15 – |
Zeynep Tufekci: Beyond Tahrir: Networked Activism in Post-Revolutionary Transitions |
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11:45 – 12:15 |
Marek Tuszynski: Get the picture! Images, evidence and activism in times of transition |
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12:15 – |
Arturo Buzzolan & Jacob Appelboom: Crash course of Mobile (SS7) privacy and security |
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2:15 – |
Screening of Zero Silence, a documentary about the Free Wor(l)d |
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3:15 – |
Leila Nachawati: Citizen mobilizations and citizen communications: The Spanish 15 M movement and the Arab inspiration |
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3:45 – |
Panel Discussion: Tunisian Bloggers & Politics: |
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4:45 – |
Panel Discussion: Wikileaks and the Arab Spring: What is the Impact of Information on Social Change? |