The internet has revolutionised the ways in which people from across continents can communicate and influence each other.  It has allowed stories of state repression and individual sacrifice to reach both grassroots activists and policy-makers.  The internet remains a forum in which it is possible to be an anonymous participant but technology is also being used to trace users and pressure service providers that host websites or discussion boards to divulge user information.  The responsibility for protecting digital democracy can fall to many different quarters and the recent ‘Haystack’ case has shown that greater attention must be paid to the security of activists using tools intended to protect them.  Conference participants therefore helped to detail the developments taking place with Christine Runnegar of the Internet Society noting the ways in which national campaigns were now being waged using new applications such as Twitter and how these innovations were changing the landscape of decision-making in countries around the world.  A case study from Balochistan, delivered by Sepideh Sadeghi, showed how Baloch activists were using the internet to keep their culture alive and vibrant and how the internet was also helping to develop relations between distant diasporas.  Kathy Polias of the World Uyghur Congress developed this case study with reference to the state policies used to limit access to the internet in the People’s Republic of China.  Concluding on a positive note, contributions from Niccolò Figà-Talamanca of No Peace Without Justice, and Stéphane Koch of Reporters Sans Frontières showed how technology could be used to defence of human rights defenders by using reports to show the extend of national protests in Iran and also how practical tools could be used to safeguard the lives and activities of human rights defenders.  The conference discussion was broadened with closing remarks from Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Pieter Mulder who spoke of the importance of the internet in Africa in encouraging debate and discussion and the immense potential it held to transform the continent for the better.

Programme

Opening Remarks
Marco Perduca
Senator of the Italian Republic

Marino Busdachin 
Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization

‘Trends in Digital Democracy and International Human Rights’
Christine Runnegar
Internet Society

‘State Control of the Internet in East Turkestan’
Kathy Polias
World Uyghur Congress

‘Baloch Activists and the Internet’
Sepideh Sadeghi
West Balochistan

‘Using New Media – Prospects and Problems Facing Digital Activism in the MENA Region’
Niccolò Figà-Talamanca
No Peace Without Justice

‘Effective Digital Communication Strategies’
Stéphane Koch
Reporters Sans Frontières

Questions and answers

Closing Remarks
Dr. Pieter Mulder
Deputy Minister of Agriculture
Republic of South Africa