Free Speech Camp


' Radio FRO Radio FRO

Over the course of the emancipation of civil society—an issue of tremendous international relevance and one that is of particular interest in Austria in light of that country’s current political situation—the discourse surrounding free speech has increasingly focused on access to and the independence of the media. The Free Speech and Open Source Movement that is actively involved in this controversial area is making key contributions to debates concerning censorship and democracy as well as software.

In the Free Speech Camp, activists and groups representing the Free Media movement and social scene—particularly their representatives from Central and Eastern Europe —will present their projects, experiences and strategies. Public campaigning, solidarity networks and public domain will be addressed by featured speakers as well as in panel discussions and workshops presented throughout the duration of the Festival.

Free Speech Camp

• Radio FRO 105.0 MHz


• Radio canteen: live broadcasts, cooking show, rest area


• Free terminals for net-working


• Workshops: automatization, Linux demo day, streaming media exhibitions

• Discussion forum with activists from the Austrian resistance groups “M.U.N.D.,” “get to attack,” “Volkstanz,” “gegenschwarzblau” et al.


• Social and political campaigns (“fair trade,” “clean clothes,” etc.): organizations that are active in all sectors of production throughout the world to make consumers cognizant of the power they wield to establish standards governing labor and social rights, and to exert moral pressure upon multinational corporations.


• International protest movements against the WTO, OECD and EU: a decentralized organization transcending ideological barriers is the characteristic mode by which they work together against various different provisions of international treaties.

• Open stage, open access, open mike (Radio FRO 105.0 MHz): radiophone platforms of the Free Speech Camp for visitors to speak their mind, display their work, and discuss their projects.

• Experiences garnered and Internet-based strategies employed by international Free Media projects in combating national restrictions on free speech.


• Aspects of the threats posed to free speech by nationalism, chauvinism and war, using the example of Yugoslavia.

• Exchange of information concerning actual and ideal circumstances prevailing within the Free Media scene in Europe as a way to prepare for future cooperation and the coordination of joint initiatives.

• The parallel public sphere in Europe; a catalog of demands of the Free Media networks in light of the increasing domination over the Internet exerted by economic interests: EU media policies that are substantially committed to market competition have given rise to fears that the right to do business is being given precedence over the right of free speech. The panel discussion will examine free speech in the EU in front of an international media public.