Xiao Qiang called censorship “a form of violence agaist the human spirit” and offered the activism of Ai Weiwei as an example of the inherent resistance of networked, cloud-based activism. No matter how many times the Chinese government has tried to silence Ai Weiwei, his message inevitably re-appears elsewhere on the internet and his list of supporters continues to grow. Evgeny Morozov, on the other hand, claimed that the vast majority of so-called “digital activism” should actually be called “slacktivism” activism for slackers. Rather than contribute to meaningful social change, we are distracted by campaigns that ask us to change the color of our Twitter avatar or join a dozen online “causes” without providing any substantial contribution.

In the two years following their remarks we have seen ample evidence to support both positions. Xiao Qiang can point to Tunisia where the anti-censorship movement was clearly instrumental in the successful citizen-led ouster of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. (This year we are fortunate to hear the story directly from Tunisian anti-censorship activist Lina Ben Mhenni.) But Evgeny Morozov can point to both Belarus and China as examples where authoritarian governments have been more successful at using Internet tools to surveil their citizens than activists have been at using “the cloud” to demand more rights and hold their leaders accountable.

This September 4th Isaac Mao and I will return to Ars Electronica with an all-star cast of activists and intellectuals in search of answers to two difficult questions. First, in those societies where major social uprisings have taken place this year (Tunisia, Egypt, Spain), what has been the impact and where are activists now focusing their energy? Second, in those societies that have proven resistant to proposed social change, despite the best efforts of activists (China, Singapore, Germany), how much longer should we expect to wait, and why?

We hope that you can make it to the festival to help us find answers to both difficult questions. Even if you’re not able to participate in person, the entire day’s discussions will be broadcast live on DORF TV and we’ll actively seek questions and comments via Twitter.

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Ten years after the premature hype of a “networked democracy”, we are indeed witnessing the emergence of new possibilities of participation, which have only become possible now that the tools themselves have lost their original novelty. We see that most people are not only able to access these technologies, which virtually led them to the physical “square” but are also able to weave links from one person to another by sharing information with each other. Let’s try to re-define this virtual and real “square” together. The “square” signifies a philosophical change in society. It’s an area that is open to everyone, where relationships develop that generate new forces to tilt the social balance that had been stable for centuries. But which new forces?

Curators: David Sasaki (US), Isaac Mao (CN)

Schedule

After the Revolution

10:30 David Sasaki (US)
10:50 Lina Ben Mhenni (TN)
11:10 Zeynep Tufekci (TR)
11:30 Leila Nachawati (ES)
11:40 Discussion
12:30 Pause/break

Prix Forum – Digital Communities

14:00 Felipe Heusser (CL), Alexandra Jönsson (UK), Tim Causer (UK), Cliff Hammet (USA)
Moderation: Beatrice Achaleke (AT)

Before the Revolution

14:50 Hu Yong (CN)
15:10 Tan Siok Siok (SG)
15:30 Markus Beckedahl (DE)
15:50 Discussion
16:20 Round Table mit den Vortragenden und Prix-PreisträgerInnen
17:30 Isaac Mao (CN)
18:00 Ende

Speakers

Beatrice Achaleke (AT) is the initiator of the World Diversity Leadership Summit Europe and the founder/CEO of AFRA, the International Center for Black Women’s Perspectives. In 2007, she organized the first Black European Women’s Congress in Vienna. In 2008, she became the first Black woman to run for a seat in the Austrian Parliament. In 2010, Beatrice Achaleke published a report on the status of Blacks in Austria.

Markus Beckedahl (DE) is a co-founder of re:publica, spokesman of Creative Commons Germany and a member of the German UNESCO Commission. Since 2002, he’s been blogging about politics in digital society at netzpolitik.org.

Tim Causer (UK) represents the UCL Bentham Project. He is a member of its research staff.

Felipe Heusser (CL) is a legal scholar and graduate of the London School of Economics. He specializes in freedom of information, transparency, and liability law.

Alexandra Jönsson (UK) and Clifford Hammet (USA) describe themselfes as a technology dabbler. As scholars in the field of media studies, they take a critical approach to socially committed media art.

Isaac Mao (CN) is a provider of risk capital, blogger, software developer, author of numerous publications about online journalism and consultant to various Web 2.0 enterprises.

Lina Ben Mhenni (TN) is one of the voices of the tunisian revolution. She’s teaching at the University of Tunis, she’s the author of “A Tunisian Girl” which is also the title of her blog.

Leila Nachawati (ES) is a spanish-syrian activist. She’s working in Social Media and writes for Global Voices and Periodismo Humano.

David Sasaki (US) is an independent consultant, cofounder of Rising Voices and former Latin America editor of Global Voices. His work focuses on using digital media and technology to strengthen civil society in Latin America.

Tan Siok Siok (SG) is a filmmaker and entrepreneur. She founded Kinetic Media, an online video enterprise that specializes in sports, music and youth culture.

Zeynep Tufekci (TR) is a sociology professor at the University of Maryland (US). She studies the reciprocal interaction of information technologies and societies. She also deals with social development, surveillance and protection of the private sphere.

Hu Yong (CN) is a professor at Peking University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He is the author of “The Internet is King,” the first Chinese book about the consequences of the internet, as well as numerous reports that have appeared in such media outlets as China Daily and China Central Television.

Public Square Squared und Prix Forum – Digital Communities are broadcast live on DORF TV.