“All that you touch you change. All that you change changes you. The only lasting truth is change.”
Octavia Butler – Parable of the Sower
Digital activism is in a constant flux of change as it responds to the world around us. Adapting to numerous crisis, constructed or otherwise, various technology-driven harms, shifting economic and ideological trends, and a volatile political landscape, the ecosystem of actors working toward rights and justice in the digital sphere is required to change to respond, remain relevant, and uphold rights for all.
The Decolonising the Digital Rights Field in Europe process was one such force for change. This was a two-year process of collective design with 30 participants from racial and social justice as
well as digital rights organisations and funders, hoping to address power dynamics in the field
and imagine a vision for anti-colonial digital organising.
As stated in the programme, a ‘vision for digital justice organising in Europe’,
“The digital rights field in Europe is in its current form under-equipped to resist these harms. It currently suffers from a general silo-ing from broader struggles for justice. The communities most harmed by digital technologies are underrepresented in digital rights organisations (particularly from racialised, migrant, disabled, precarious working, queer and trans, global South and
working class communities). The current functioning leads to a narrow framing and conception of digital rights as well as exploitative, extractive working and resourcing patterns. To effectively be in capacity to resist, this needs to change.”
From this process emergred a vision for digital organising in Europe, with proposals of activities, events and spaces forming a digital justice ecosystem.
The objective of this session is to explore this proposed ecosystem with the privacy camp audience, and have an active discussion about the changing digital rights and justice ecosystem, with practical discussions as to how different actors can be involved in this vision.
Spakers:
- Laurence Meyer – Racial and Social Justice Lead – Digital Freedom Fund (DFF)
- Luca Stevenson – Director of Programmes, European Sex Workers’ Rights Alliance (ESWA)
- Myriam Douo – Climate and racial justice activist
- Sarah Chander – Senior Policy Adviser European Digital Rights (EDRi)