Welcome to the Official Schedule for RightsCon 2019, the world’s leading summit on human rights in the digital age.
Together at RightsCon Tunis, our first summit hosted in the Middle East and North Africa, more than 2500 expert practitioners will come together across over 400 sessions to shape, contribute to, and drive forward the global agenda for the future of our human rights.
Important note: Whether you’re a session organizer, speaker, or participant, you’ll need to login to Sched or create an account in order to get the most out of the program (including creating a profile and building your own customized RightsCon schedule).
North Korea has one of the most heavily censored media environments in the world. Knowing the threat outside information poses to their propaganda and ideology, the North Korean government aggressively limits outside information from reaching the ears, eyes, and minds of their citizens.
This session will explore North Korean government censorship, how technology is being used to facilitate the flow of information into North Korea, and the complications facing human rights groups who are actively participating in data smuggling attempts. Multiple facilitators will speak on the work they are doing to address this issue.
First, PSCORE will present a video interview with a recent North Korean defector. This interviewee has a unique perspective to share, as he was one of the lucky few North Koreans able to access free information due to his high-ranking position that mandated work outside North Korea. He will discuss how access to this information helped facilitate his emancipation from North Korea.
Second, Unification Media Group will discuss the diverse work its media activists, many of whom have escaped from North Korea, do to amplify the free flow of information into, out of, and within the country. UMG will also share details from a recent survey it conducted with over 200 North Korean refugees concerning access to information in North Korea and leveraging the country's shifting media landscape in order to erode the regime's information blockade.
Next, Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) will discuss their documentation project that maps the sites of gross human rights violations in North Korea, how the transitional justice approach can guide decision-makers, and the need for that approach to be victim-centered.
Lastly, there will be an open panel discussion/ feedback session where participants have the opportunity to discuss and brainstorm ideas and strategies to address the lack of access to free information in North Korea. We hope this presentation serves as a first step in establishing a working group to develop new strategies to connect the North Korean people to the rest of the world.
