Proposal

APrIGF 2022 Session Proposal Submission Form
Part 1 - Lead Organizer
Contact Person
Ms. Ameya Nagarajan
Email
Organization / Affiliation (Please state "Individual" if appropriate) *
Advox - Global Voices
Designation
Advox Editor
Gender
Female
Economy of Residence
India
Primary Stakeholder Group
Press / Media
Part 2 - Session Proposal
Session Title
Unfreedom Monitor: The Suppression of Dissent through Digital Authoritarianism
Session Format
Showcase
Where do you plan to organize your session?
Online only (with onsite facilitator who will help with questions or comments from the floor)
Specific Issues for Discussion
Digital communications technologies have been a powerful tool in the advancement of democratic governance. Recently there is concern that they are being used to undermine democracy as well. The Unfreedom Monitor, a project to analyse, document, and report on the growing phenomenon of the use of digital communications technology to advance authoritarian governance, aims to study and report on this growing phenomenon.

Researchers carried out extensive qualitative analysis looking at media items and collated them in a relational database to compare acts of digital authoritarianism across regime types. Surveillance is increasing at an alarming rate; data privacy structures are ineffective where they exist, and many regimes attempt to control access to the internet, via shutdowns, bandwidth throttling, identity tracking, and making it more expensive to use.

We would like to discuss the findings of the first stage of our research that tracked and documented key developments in digital authoritarianism in selected countries:, including Myanmar and India. What are the methods that governments use to control online spaces and the political justifications they use to legitimise them? How does this affect specifically the press, but also, civic discourse, and ordinary citizens? What methods and frameworks should we establish to monitor and
and increase awareness of the problem of digital authoritarianism.
Describe the Relevance of Your Session to APrIGF
The internet has always been imagined and used as a space where everyone could freely inform themselves, express themselves, and organise outside physical frameworks of control. It still holds the potential to transform communities and civic and political engagement, albeit currently overwhelmed with capitalist monopolies, disinformation factories and ruthless gatekeeping. In this moment, it becomes crucial to distinguish between practices that represent a social contract of the digital age that justly constrains the rights of some internet users only insofar as it enables the rights of others, and practices that are designed to extend the power of the state, curb freedoms and expand oppression. It also becomes important to identify the correct balance of power between citizens, corporations and their governments, and particularly structures that protect individuals and their communities first. Our research aims to lay a foundation to document and understand how trust in and access to the internet are increasingly eroded by state actors, deepening our collective understanding of the motivation, dynamics and possible future directions of digital authoritarianism globally.
Methodology / Agenda (Please add rows by clicking "+" on the right)
Time frame (e.g. 5 minutes, 20 minutes, should add up to 60 minutes) Description
5 minutes Introduction
10 minutes Methodology of the research
10 minutes Results for India and Myanmar
10 minutes Overall results
25 minutes Q&A and discussion
Moderators & Speakers Info (Please complete where possible)

  • Moderator (Primary)

    • Name: Ameya Nagarajan
    • Organization: Advox - Global Voices
    • Designation: Advox Editor
    • Gender: Female
    • Economy / Country of Residence: India
    • Stakeholder Group: Academia
    • Expected Presence: In-person
    • Status of Confirmation: Proposed

  • Moderator (Back-up)

    • Name: Sindhu Nandhakumar
    • Organization: Advox - Global Voices
    • Designation: Advox Research Manager
    • Gender: Female
    • Economy / Country of Residence: India
    • Stakeholder Group: Academia
    • Expected Presence: In-person
    • Status of Confirmation: Proposed

  • Speaker 1

    • Name: Nanjala Nyabola
    • Organization: Advox - Global Voices
    • Designation: Advox Director
    • Gender: Female
    • Economy / Country of Residence: Kenya
    • Stakeholder Group: Academia
    • Expected Presence: In-person
    • Status of Confirmation: Proposed

  • Speaker 2

    • Name: Reyhan Topal
    • Organization: Advox - Global Voices
    • Designation: Researcher
    • Gender: Female
    • Economy / Country of Residence: United States
    • Stakeholder Group: Academia
    • Expected Presence: In-person
    • Status of Confirmation: Proposed

  • Speaker 3

    • Stakeholder Group: Academia
    • Expected Presence: In-person
    • Status of Confirmation: Proposed

  • Speaker 4

    • Stakeholder Group: Academia
    • Expected Presence: In-person
    • Status of Confirmation: Proposed
Please explain the rationale for choosing each of the above contributors to the session.
Ameya, Sindhu and Nanjala ran the research project and can speak to the research methodology and the outputs produced as well as the overarching findings and context. Reyhan, as a thematic researcher who focussed on data governance and privacy speaks to the findings as they align with this thematic track at APrIGF. We would have liked to have our county researchers for Myanmar and India speak, but conditions in their country make it expedient that they remain anonymous.
Please declare if you have any potential conflict of interest with the Program Committee 2022.
No
Are you or other session contributors planning to apply for the APrIGF Fellowship Program 2022?
No
Number of Attendees (Please fill in numbers)
    Consent
    I agree that my data can be submitted to forms.for.asia and processed by APrIGF organizers for the program selection of APrIGF 2022.