Program Sneak Peek – World Expression Forum May 30th and 31st of May 2022

The World Expression Forum will provide participants, present and online, with tools and ideas on how to promote freedom of expression through the exploration of four main themes.

The conference will consist of keynote speeches, panel discussions and spotlight sessions. We will discuss strategies to promote and defend Freedom of Expression in workshops. There will also be artistic interventions.

Monday May 30th

The current state of Freedom of Expression 2022, Where is the progress? What can we learn?

Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, will present an overview of the current state of freedom of expression, followed by a Freedom of Expression Summit with politicians and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitri Muratov.

In a Spotlight-session, Astrid Hoem, the leader of the Labour Youth Party will talk about “When hate speech turns into killings – Norway / 22.07”

 

«State and politics – How to combat growing authoritarianism and anti-liberalism in democracies”.

Dmitri Muratov will hold a key-note speech on journalism in Russia: “Lessons Learned and the Way Forward”. The panel debate that follows will look at how to defend Freedom of Expression against growing authoritarianism.

Moderator: Jon Peder Egenæs, Secretary General of Amnesty International, Norway,

Speakers:

  • Christo Grozev (Bellingcat),
  • Leandro Demori (The Intercept),
  • Mohamed Kharwa (South Africa Bookseller Association)
  • Agnes Callamard (Amnesty International)

In a Spotlight-session, we will meet Sebastain Lai, the son of imprisoned news publisher Jimmy Lai who, together with Apple Newsroom in Hongkong, were the recipient of the Golden Pen Award 2021

 

Technology and regulations. What are the best solutions?

After lunch, in a new Spotlight-session, Felicia Anthonio from Access Now will talk about: “Shutting down the internet — a growing threat against Freedom of Expression”.

Professor Victor Pickard follows with a keynote on “How can we regulate the tech giants, protecting Journalism and Defending Freedom of Expression”.

The third keynote of the day will be delivered by the Vice President of the European Commission, Věra Jourová.

To discuss this there will be a panel including representatives from the tech companies. Among them Dex Hunter-Torricke, Communication manager of Facebooks Oversite Board.

 

«Society, how to deal with hate speech? How can we obtain an inclusive public debate without censorship?”

After the break we will start with a Spotlight session on sportswashing and freedom of expression: The Responsibility of National Federations and Athletes in Supporting Fundamental Democratic Values. This will be conducted as interview by journalist Kadafi Zahman with Lise Klaveness, nominated as President of the Norwegian Football Association .   

Then we will turn to the first project run by World Expression Forum: How do young people think the challenges to Freedom of Expression should be addressed? The session will be based on the work of the Free Speech Youth Council (Ungdommens Ytringsfrihetsråd), and is developed in cooperation with local schools in the county of Lillehammer and international partners. This will be a presentation of a project that will be scaled globally with Vivian Haverstadsløkken and a panel of participants from the pilots

A panel discussion on “Polarization and no-platforming.  How to obtain an inclusive and liberal public debate?” follows.  Author, Jakob Mchangama, will introduce the session and then be joined by Lisa Ann Cooper, founder of Catalyst and Adele Matheson, National Human Rights Institution, Norway in a discussion moderated by Knut Olav Åmås, director at Fritt Ord Foundation.

During dinner there will be a speech by Prix Voltaire laureate 2021, Rasha Al Ameer, the nominees for the Prix Voltaire 2022 will be presented and Norwegian band, ISÁK will perform.

 

Tuesday May 31st

There will be two sets of workshops in the morning session, each with four topics to choose between.

The first four topics are:

  • Artists and writers between freedom and responsibility: What can be done to protect and promote artistic freedom?
  • Serving the public and the state facts and messages they don’t like to hear.
  • How to fight propaganda and disinformation effectively.
  • Freedom of Expression in Academia, a ghost story: What are the legitimate concerns.

For the next session of workshops, the topics are:

  • Are the limits of Freedom of Expression in flux, and if so, where should they go?
  • Youth and Freedom of Expression – Challenges and opportunities.
  • Media ang technology – where to go from here? Regulations, market and journalism.
  • Forging war: History between revisionism and new perspectives.

After lunch there will be a discussion about “Can You Promote Change from the Inside? Middle Easter Experiences” Rasha Al Ameer, Prix Voltaire laureate 2021 and Bodour Al Qasimi, President International Publishers Association are among the participants moderated by journalist Yama Wolasmal.

Adam Bodnar, former Ombudsperson of Poland will talk about his experience. A panel debate on how to combat the enemies of Freedom of Expression will follow.

After a break, there will be a Spotlight interview om «Indigious voices not silenced», with musician and author Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen.

Finally, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Ressa, will talk about the future of Freedom of Expression, followed by a panel discussion where Maria Ressa will be joined by Helle Thorning-Schmidt, member of Meta/Facebook Overshight Board and Minister of The Ministry of Culture and Equality, Anne Trettebergstuen, moderated by Jakob Nielsen, editor-in-chief of Altinget, Denmark.

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Speakers