in cooperation with
offers a joint workshop themed
“Social Media, Conflict and Democracy: Utopian Visions, Dystopian Futures and Pragmatic Policies”
#ICTconflict
- Friday, 18 November 2016, 9:00-12:00h, The Press Club, Brussels
- Video of the event
- Outline
- Agenda
Video
We offered a live broadcast of the workshop. It has been recorded and is available below:
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vjgZpes4Ro)
Outline
How do social media, fuelled by the rise of Internet-enabled technologies, play a role in assisting democratic change during times of conflict in today’s digitally connected world?
Conversely, how are social media used to escalate conflicts and aid the formation of extremist networks?
Have the utopian visions — so often presented in the media during the so-called “Arab Spring” — of how social media can trigger political change now transformed into dystopian visions of social media used for surveillance, anti-democratic propaganda and repression?
These are among the central questions to be addressed in a workshop entitled “Social Media, Conflict & Democracy: Utopian Visions, Dystopian Futures and Pragmatic Policies” to be held at the Press Club Brussels on Friday, November 18 (09:00h – 12:00h). The workshop will be of interest to, for example, journalists, scholars, activists, policy-makers, NGOs and think tanks.
Among the keynote speakers at the event is world-renowned Egyptian blogger and journalist Wael Abbas, famous for his outspoken Tweets tackling key issues in Egypt. In addition, a set of other speakers representing three large-scale, transnational EU-funded projects — MeCoDEM, INFOCORE and VOX-Pol — will be showcasing research done in areas related to ICTs, (violent) conflict, democracy and security.
Following the talks and presentation of research, the floor will be open for discussion and debate on one of the most important topics in contemporary political communication.
The MeCoDEM project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 613370. Project Term: 1.2.2014 – 31.1.2017.
Agenda (preliminary):
| Friday 18 November 2016 (9:00h-12:00h) | |
| 08:30h | Registration Conference Hall, The Press Club |
| 09:00h – 09:25h | Welcome and introductions |
| Prof. Katrin Voltmer, MeCoDEM University of Leeds |
|
| Dr. Dimitra Dimitrakopoulou, INFOCORE The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy |
|
| Dr. Matti Pohjonen, VOX-Pol University of Amsterdam |
|
| 09:25h – 09:40h | Keynote speech |
| Wael Abbas, Egyptian journalist and blogger | |
| 09:40h – 09:55h | Keynote speech |
| Lucinda Armstrong, European Commission DG Home | |
| 09:55h – 10:10h | Discussion |
| 10:10h – 10:45h | Findings from the MeCoDEM project: |
| Introduction Prof. Christian Christensen, MeCoDEM University of Stockholm |
|
| MeCodify: An open source project for extracting and analysing tweets Dr. Walid Al-Saqaf, MeCoDEM University of Stockholm |
|
| Twitter and governance in South Africa Dr. Heather Ford, MeCoDEM University of Leeds |
|
| Discussion | |
| 10:45h – 11:00h | Coffee break |
| 11:00h – 11:35h | Findings from the INFOCORE project |
| Suggesting an interdisciplinary approach to the study of social media in conflict-ridden societies Asst. Prof. Dimitra Dimitrakopoulou, Principal Investigator WP5 “Social Media”, INFOCORE Dr. Salome Boukala, Postdoctoral researcher WP5 “Social Media”, INFOCORE The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy |
|
| Challenges in analysing big data in conflict contexts Sergios Lenis, Researcher WP5 “Social Media”, INFOCORE |
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| Discussion | |
| 11:35h – 12:00h | Findings from the VOX-pol project |
| Comparative mapping of online networks of the EU’s extreme far right and ISIS: Lessons learned for research and policy Matti Pohjonen, VOX-Pol University of Amsterdam |
|
| Discussion | |
| 12:00h – 13:00h | Lunch and networking |
For more information, please contact Walid Al-Saqaf on walid.al-saqaf@ims.su.se