RightsCon Tunis 2019

The session seeks to foster discussion and collaboration between activists and human rights
defenders in the global south around the issue of shrinking spaces on social media in the face
of increasingly authoritative digital governance. As the move for greater state surveillance and
censorship of social media continues to be met with the increasing compliance of social media
companies to content restriction and user data requests, the fundamental rights of internet users
in developing countries are increasingly threatened. It seeks to foster the development of
innovative strategies, policies and solutions that can balance the need to regulate social media
and respect cultural relativity online without obstructing freedom of expression and the global
flow and exchange of information.

The session will first give digital rights activists from countries such as Pakistan, India,
Bangladesh, Turkey and Malaysia the opportunity to highlight and document context specific
concerns and instances of online repression within global policy dialogue. The second half will
focus on the dynamic relationship between governments and social media companies so that
they can better position themselves to combat this emerging nexus. This includes discussing
strategies to strengthen accountability and transparency of tech companies, and how legislation
can be reformed to protect the rights of citizens, particularly the disenfranchised.