Proposal

APrIGF 2024 Session Proposal Submission Form
Part 1 - Lead Organizer
Contact Person
Ms. Liza Garcia
Email
Organization / Affiliation (Please state "Individual" if appropriate) *
Foundation for Media Alternatives
Designation
Executive Director
Gender
Female
Economy of Residence
Philippines
Primary Stakeholder Group
Civil Society
List Your Organizing Partners (if any)
Ms. Sabhanaz Rashid Diya
Founder and Executive Director
Tech Global Institute
srdiya@techglobalinstitute.com
Part 2 - Session Proposal
Session Title
Platform Accountability in South and Southeast Asia
Session Format
Panel Discussion (60 minutes)
Where do you plan to organize your session?
Onsite at the venue (with online moderator for questions and comments from remote participants)
Specific Issues for Discussion
Accountability of social media and user-to-user communication platforms (“platforms”) around their speech and privacy practices is a longstanding, albeit contested, issue. Countries have adopted different approaches to holding platforms accountable— from legislation (Singapore) to coalition-led voluntary commitments (Australia). On the other hand, India has taken platforms to court, demanding more transparency and safety against hate speech for their communities. Efficacy measurements around these approaches are fragmented, therefore, it is difficult to identify what works and doesn’t, and subsequently, how to make more concerted efforts based on learnings. This panel discussion brings together experts from Bangladesh, Nepal, Philippines and South Korea to understand the varied approaches to accountability and making online spaces safer, discuss what works, and provide recommendations on specific interventions that civil society and policymakers can adopt based on shared, cross-regional experiences.

The panel discussion is built on a series of civil society-led conversations in the Asia Pacific and the Global Majority that increasingly recognised that accountability efforts are fragmented. As a result, the uneven power dynamic between private entities, policymakers and non-governmental voices is exacerbated, and communities are left unsafe and unheard. There is a growing urgency to de-duplicate efforts and share learnings, ideally contributing towards coalition-building in APAC and globally. The panel is both a culmination of these discussions to bring in a wider audience, as well as a starting point towards more cross-regional learning and coalition-building.
Describe the Relevance of Your Session to APrIGF
This year’s APrIGF touches on both the evolution of digital ecosystems and the principles that govern them with hopes to build more consensus around responsible technologies. The panel discussion fits directly into this year’s theme by: (a) taking stock of lessons learnt by civil society groups on platform governance, (b) recognising the evolution of various governance tactics across countries, (c) outlining converging and diverging principles underpinning these tactics, and (d) providing an opportunity for consensus-building around tactics based on efficacy, inclusivity and replicability. The session also demonstrates the importance of multi-stakeholder, cross-regional approach to internet governance by bringing together experts from different backgrounds, industries and countries.

The outcome of the panel discussion is an APAC-focused white paper on platform accountability and governance that civil society organizations and policymakers can use as a reference to build consensus with each other with and between countries.
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 and scene-setting by the moderator, outlining some key tactics over the past years that have been used to govern platforms.
10 minutes Each panelist receives 2.5 mins to provide an overview of platform governance in their respective countries/sub-regions, coupled with examples of impact and limitations
15 minutes Panelists are provided with a list of questions ahead of time. Each gets to respond to two questions in the list below. - What are some metrics that civil society and communities can adopt to understand if a specific tactic, for example, a law or a court case, is leading to tangible short- and long-term improvements to platform governance? - Similarly, how can policymakers develop more evidence-driven options to govern platforms? - South and Southeast Asian policymakers often are put in a position to choose between economic opportunities and platform governance. How realistic is this dichotomy? What advice do you have for policymakers grappling with the equities? - The private and public sectors have inherently different incentives. What are some constructive ways to align incentives to achieve better outcomes in responsible Internet governance?
10 minutes The moderator identifies common themes based on the panelists’ feedback and outlines them, followed by a single round of panelist feedback to shared principles.
15 minutes Audience Q&A
5 minutes The moderator wraps up the conversation and outlines next steps, including inviting participants to contribute to a white paper on best practices.
Moderators & Speakers Info (Please complete where possible)

  • Moderator (Primary)

    • Name: Liza Garcia
    • Organization: Foundation for Media Alternatives
    • Designation: Executive Director
    • Gender: F
    • Economy / Country of Residence: Philippines
    • Stakeholder Group: Civil Society
    • Expected Presence: In-person
    • Status of Confirmation: Confirmed
    • Link of Bio (URL only): https://fma.ph/the-team/

  • Speaker 1

    • Name: Sabhanaz Rashid Diya
    • Organization: Tech Global Institute
    • Designation: Founder and Executive Director
    • Gender: F
    • Economy / Country of Residence: Bangladesh
    • Stakeholder Group: Civil Society
    • Expected Presence: In-person
    • Status of Confirmation: Confirmed
    • Link of Bio (URL only): https://techglobalinstitute.com/members/sabhanaz-rashid-diya/

  • Speaker 2

    • Name: KS Park
    • Organization: Open Net Korea
    • Designation: Founder
    • Gender: M
    • Economy / Country of Residence: South Korea
    • Stakeholder Group: Academia
    • Expected Presence: In-person
    • Status of Confirmation: Confirmed
    • Link of Bio (URL only): https://globalnetworkinitiative.org/member/ks-park/

  • Speaker 3

    • Name: Prateek Waghre
    • Organization: Internet Freedom Foundation
    • Designation: Executive Director
    • Gender: M
    • Economy / Country of Residence: India
    • Stakeholder Group: Civil Society
    • Expected Presence: In-person
    • Status of Confirmation: Invited

  • Speaker 4

    • Name: Grace Salonga
    • Organization: Movement against Disinformation
    • Designation: Executive Director
    • Gender: F
    • Economy / Country of Residence: Philippines
    • Stakeholder Group: Civil Society
    • Expected Presence: In-person
    • Status of Confirmation: Confirmed
Please explain the rationale for choosing each of the above contributors to the session.
Professor Kyung-Sin (K.S.) Park is one of the founders of Open Net Korea, a forum for discussion and collaboration on ICT freedoms and human rights since 2013. From 2006 through 2016, he also has served as the executive director of the PSPD Law Center, a non-profit entity that organized several high-impact litigations in the areas of free speech, privacy, and copyright in South Korea.

Sabhanaz Rashid Diya is the founder of Tech Global Institute, a tech policy nonprofit focused on advancing equity and accountability for the Global Majority on the Internet. From 2019 through 2023, she headed public policy for Meta in the Asia-Pacific region, and brings 20 years of experience in shaping technology regulations in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. She is a visiting policy fellow at Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford.

Grace Salonga is a lawyer by profession. She is the Executive Director of the Movement Against Disinformation (MAD), a broad non-partisan coalition of members from the academe, legal profession, civil society groups, international and local non-government organizations and other advocacy groups that are united in pushing back against the systematic and unregulated spread of disinformation on social media platforms

Prateek Wahgre is the Executive Director of Internet Freedom Foundation. He has done research and work on the impact of technology in democratic networked societies, the role of misinformation and disinformation in the information ecosystem, the governance of digital communication networks, data privacy, internet shutdowns, and major issues affecting the internet policy space in India.

Liza Garcia is the Executive Director of the Foundation for Media Alternatives. She specializes in women’s rights and ICT and has been actively promoting internet governance in the Philippines. She currently sits as one of the board members of the Internet Society – Philippines Chapter
If you need assistance to find a suitable speaker to contribute to your session, or an onsite facilitator for your online-only session, please specify your request with details of what you are looking for.
Thank you, we got it covered.
Please declare if you have any potential conflict of interest with the Program Committee 2024.
No
Are you or other session contributors planning to apply for the APrIGF Fellowship Program 2024?
Yes
APrIGF offers live transcript in English for all sessions. Do you need any other translation support or any disability related requests for your session? APrIGF makes every effort to be a fully inclusive and accessible event, and will do the best to fulfill your needs.
None
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