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Rebecca MacKinnon: We can fight terror without sacrificing our rights
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Can we fight terror without destroying democracy? Internet freedom activist Rebecca MacKinnon thinks that we'll lose the battle against extremism and demagoguery if we censor the internet and press. In this critical talk, she calls for a doubling-down on strong encryption and appeals to governments to better protect, not silence, the journalists and activists fighting against extremists.
Rebecca MacKinnon - Internet freedom activist
Rebecca MacKinnon looks at issues of free expression, governance and democracy (or lack of) in the digital networks, platforms and services on which we are all more and more dependent. Full bio
Rebecca MacKinnon looks at issues of free expression, governance and democracy (or lack of) in the digital networks, platforms and services on which we are all more and more dependent. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
There's a big question
at the center of life
at the center of life
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in our democracies today:
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How do we fight terror
without destroying democracies,
without destroying democracies,
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without trampling human rights?
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I've spent much of my career
working with journalists,
working with journalists,
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with bloggers,
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with activists,
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with human rights researchers
all around the world,
all around the world,
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and I've come to the conclusion
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that if our democratic societies
do not double down
do not double down
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on protecting and defending human rights,
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freedom of the press
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and a free and open internet,
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radical extremist ideologies
are much more likely to persist.
are much more likely to persist.
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(Applause)
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OK, all done. Thank you very much.
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No, just joking.
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(Laughter)
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I actually want to drill down
on this a little bit.
on this a little bit.
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So, one of the countries that has been
on the frontlines of this issue
on the frontlines of this issue
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is Tunisia,
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which was the only country
to come out of the Arab Spring
to come out of the Arab Spring
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with a successful democratic revolution.
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Five years later,
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they're struggling
with serious terror attacks
with serious terror attacks
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and rampant ISIS recruitment.
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And many Tunisians
are calling on their government
are calling on their government
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to do whatever it takes to keep them safe.
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Tunisian cartoonist Nadia Khiari
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has summed up the situation
with this character who says,
with this character who says,
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"I don't give a damn about human rights.
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I don't give a damn about the revolution.
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I don't give a damn
about democracy and liberty.
about democracy and liberty.
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I just want to be safe."
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"Satisfied?" asked his jailer.
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"You're safe now."
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If the Tunisian people can figure out
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how to deal with their terrorism problem
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without ending up in this place,
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they will be a model
not only for their region,
not only for their region,
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but for all of us.
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The reality is that civil society,
journalists and activists
journalists and activists
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are coming under attack
from extremist groups on the one hand,
from extremist groups on the one hand,
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and, in many countries,
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also from their own governments.
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We're seeing bloggers
and journalists being jailed,
and journalists being jailed,
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charged and intimidated
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by their own governments,
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many of which are allies
with the West in the war on terror.
with the West in the war on terror.
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Just three examples.
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A friend and former colleague of mine,
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Hisham Almiraat,
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has been charged
with threatening state security,
with threatening state security,
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along with six other activists in Morocco.
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The Saudi blogger Raif Badawi
has been jailed and flogged
has been jailed and flogged
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for insulting Islam and criticizing
the Saudi regime on his blog.
the Saudi regime on his blog.
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More recently, the Turkish representative
for Reporters Without Borders,
for Reporters Without Borders,
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Erol Önderoglu,
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has been detained and charged
with spreading terrorist propaganda,
with spreading terrorist propaganda,
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because he and some other activists
have been supporting Kurdish media.
have been supporting Kurdish media.
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Anti-terror measures
quickly turn into state repression
quickly turn into state repression
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without strong protection
for minority communities
for minority communities
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and for peaceful debate;
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this needs to be supported
by a robust, independent local media.
by a robust, independent local media.
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But while that's not really happening,
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Washington is teaming up
with Silicon Valley and with Hollywood
with Silicon Valley and with Hollywood
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to pour millions -- hundreds
of millions of dollars --
of millions of dollars --
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into what's called "counter-messaging,"
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a fancy word for propaganda.
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To counter the terrorist propaganda
spreading all over the internet,
spreading all over the internet,
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in Europe, Internet Referral
Units are being set up,
Units are being set up,
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so that people can report
on extremist content that they find
on extremist content that they find
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and get it censored.
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The problem is,
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that all of this propaganda,
monitoring and censorship
monitoring and censorship
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completely fails to make up for the fact
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that the people who are
the most credible voices,
the most credible voices,
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who can present credible ideas
and alternative solutions
and alternative solutions
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to real economic, social and political
problems in their community
problems in their community
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that are causing people to turn
to extremism in the first place,
to extremism in the first place,
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are being silenced
by their own governments.
by their own governments.
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This is all adding up to a decrease
in freedom across the world.
in freedom across the world.
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Freedom House,
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the human rights organization,
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reports that 2015 marks
the 10th straight year in a row
the 10th straight year in a row
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of decline in freedom worldwide.
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And this is not just
because of the actions
because of the actions
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of authoritarian governments.
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It's also because democratic governments
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are increasingly cracking
down on dissenters,
down on dissenters,
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whistle-blowers
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and investigative journalists.
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UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-Moon has warned
Ban Ki-Moon has warned
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that "preventing extremism and promoting
human rights go hand-in-hand."
human rights go hand-in-hand."
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It's not to say that governments
shouldn't keep us safe --
shouldn't keep us safe --
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of course they should --
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but we need public oversight, transparency
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and accountability to the rule of law.
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Meanwhile,
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extremists are literally killing off
civil society in some countries.
civil society in some countries.
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Since 2013 in Bangladesh,
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over a dozen secular bloggers
and community activists
and community activists
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have been literally
slaughtered by extremists
slaughtered by extremists
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while the government has done very little.
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From the city of Raqqa in Syria,
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people like Ruqia Hassan and Naji Jerf
have been assassinated
have been assassinated
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for their reporting
out of ISIS-controlled territory.
out of ISIS-controlled territory.
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The citizen media group called
Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently
Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently
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relies on strong encryption
to send out their reports
to send out their reports
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and shield themselves
from interception and surveillance.
from interception and surveillance.
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Yet authorities in countries
like the United States,
like the United States,
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the United Kingdom
and many other democracies
and many other democracies
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are seeking to use the law
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to either weaken or outright ban
strong encryption,
strong encryption,
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because the bad guys are using it, too.
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We have got to fight for the right
of citizens to use strong encryption.
of citizens to use strong encryption.
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Otherwise, dissent
and investigative journalism
and investigative journalism
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are going to become even more difficult
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in even more places.
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And the bad guys -- the criminals
and terrorists --
and terrorists --
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are still going to find
ways to communicate.
ways to communicate.
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Kudos to the companies
that are standing up
that are standing up
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for their users' right to use encryption.
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But when it comes to censorship,
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the picture is much more troubling.
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Yes, there's a real problem
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of extremist content
spreading all over the internet.
spreading all over the internet.
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And Facebook, YouTube and Twitter
are among the many companies
are among the many companies
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who report having taken down hundreds
of thousands of pieces of content
of thousands of pieces of content
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and deactivating accounts
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that are connected
to the extremist's speech.
to the extremist's speech.
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The problem is their enforcement
mechanisms are a complete black box,
mechanisms are a complete black box,
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and there is collateral damage.
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Take, for example, Iyad el-Baghdadi,
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an activist who makes fun
of ISIS on Twitter.
of ISIS on Twitter.
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He had his account deactivated,
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because he shares a surname
with a prominent ISIS leader.
with a prominent ISIS leader.
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Last December,
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a number of women named Isis,
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which also happens to be
the name of an Egyptian goddess,
the name of an Egyptian goddess,
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had their accounts deactivated.
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And this woman,
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who lives in the United States
and is a computer programmer,
and is a computer programmer,
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reported on Twitter
about her deactivation on Facebook,
about her deactivation on Facebook,
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managed to get enough media attention
to have her account reinstated.
to have her account reinstated.
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But that's the thing --
she had to get media attention.
she had to get media attention.
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And journalists aren't immune.
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David Thomson,
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an expert on terrorism and reporter
for Radio France International,
for Radio France International,
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had reports deleted
from his Facebook account
from his Facebook account
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and had his account
deactivated for several days,
deactivated for several days,
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because they contained
pictures of ISIS flags,
pictures of ISIS flags,
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even though he was just reporting on ISIS,
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not promoting it.
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And then we have stories from people
like this Egyptian man,
like this Egyptian man,
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Ahmed Abdellahy,
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who reported recently in an event
in Washington DC
in Washington DC
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that some of his arguments
with extremists --
with extremists --
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he now spends his time on social media
arguing with ISIS followers,
arguing with ISIS followers,
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trying to get them to turn away --
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some of his arguments
with these extremists get deleted,
with these extremists get deleted,
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which he believes has the effect
of shielding them
of shielding them
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from alternative points of view.
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It's unclear whether Facebook
even knows the extent
even knows the extent
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of the collateral damage,
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or the other companies as well.
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But we do know that journalism,
activism and public debate
activism and public debate
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are being silenced in the effort
to stamp out extremist speech.
to stamp out extremist speech.
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So with these companies having so much
power over the public discourse,
power over the public discourse,
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they need to be held accountable.
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They need to carry out impact assessment
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to identify and fix the problems
that we're clearly seeing.
that we're clearly seeing.
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They need to be more transparent
about their enforcement mechanisms,
about their enforcement mechanisms,
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and they need to have clear
appeal and grievance mechanisms,
appeal and grievance mechanisms,
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so people can get
their content reinstated.
their content reinstated.
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Now, I've been talking
for the last 10 minutes
for the last 10 minutes
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about how governments and companies
are making it more difficult
are making it more difficult
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for people like these.
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This is a picture of members
of the citizen media network,
of the citizen media network,
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Global Voices,
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that I helped to cofound over 10 years ago
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with my friend, Ethan Zuckerman.
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Interestingly, about 5 years ago,
right after the Arab Spring,
right after the Arab Spring,
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the data scientist Gilad Lotan
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created a network map
of the people in Global Voices
of the people in Global Voices
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who were heavy users of Twitter
during the Arab Spring.
during the Arab Spring.
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And he found that many of these people
served as key information nodes
served as key information nodes
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between activists and journalists
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throughout the Tunisian
and Egyptian revolution.
and Egyptian revolution.
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We've got to make sure
that these people not only survive,
that these people not only survive,
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but are able to continue to thrive.
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Many of them are still active,
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other than the ones who have gone to jail
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or have been driven into hiding or exile.
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All around the world,
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people who are sick and tired
of fear and oppression
of fear and oppression
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are linking up in their communities
and across borders.
and across borders.
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We've got to do everything we can
to push our governments and companies
to push our governments and companies
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to do a better job
of protecting their rights.
of protecting their rights.
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We've also got to be more mindful
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about how our own personal, political,
consumer and business choices
consumer and business choices
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affect people like these around the world.
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Also, if you follow the news,
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it's pretty clear that that alone
isn't going to be enough.
isn't going to be enough.
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We've got to take personal
responsibility by joining --
responsibility by joining --
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or at very least, actively supporting --
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the growing ecosystem
of individuals and groups
of individuals and groups
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who are fighting for social justice,
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environmental sustainability,
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government accountability,
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human rights, freedom of the press
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and a free and open internet,
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all around the world.
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I believe that, ultimately,
we can overcome
we can overcome
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the digitally empowered networks
of extremism, demagoguery and hate.
of extremism, demagoguery and hate.
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But ...
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we've got to do this by really
beefing up the global networks
beefing up the global networks
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of citizens around the world,
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powered by people
who are working hard every day,
who are working hard every day,
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and taking personal risk
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for a future world that is more
peaceful, just, open and free.
peaceful, just, open and free.
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Thanks very much for listening.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Rebecca MacKinnon - Internet freedom activistRebecca MacKinnon looks at issues of free expression, governance and democracy (or lack of) in the digital networks, platforms and services on which we are all more and more dependent.
Why you should listen
Rebecca MacKinnon is the director of the Ranking Digital Rights project at New America, which recently released its inaugural Corporate Accountability Index, ranking 16 Internet and telecommunications companies on their commitments, policies and practices affecting users’ freedom of expression and privacy. (An expanded Index will be released in 2017.) She is the author of Consent of the Networked, a book investigating the future of liberty in the Internet age, and has been engaging in the debate about how to fight global terrorism while keeping a free and open Internet. A former head of CNN's Beijing and Tokyo bureaus, MacKinnon is an expert on Chinese Internet censorship and is one of the founders (with Ethan Zuckerman) of the Global Voices Online blog network.
Rebecca MacKinnon | Speaker | TED.com