irights.international

Projects and events

Miriam Estrin (Google), William Bird (Media Monitoring Africa) and Joseph Nasango (Commissioner, National Cohesion and Integration Commission, Kenya) discuss how to tackle the “Fake News” phenomena respecting freedom of expression with Nalaka Gunawardene, science journalist from Sri Lanka (photo (c) Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung)

Power Shifts. Media Freedom and the Internet

The 2017 symposium of the Forum Media and Development (FoME)

Audio recordings of all sessions are already available (thanks a lot to the online news team of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung), video recordings will follow soon.

Find pictures of the symposium here.

Read UNESCO’s report about the session focusing on whistleblowers: Journalists and whistleblowers need protection

More reports to follow.

The Symposium took place in Berlin on Nov. 16th & 17th. Participants discussed recent developments, strategies and next steps at the intersection of media development and Internet Governance with a range of international experts in the fields of media development and Internet governance:

> Chinmayi Arun, Centre for Communication Governance, Delhi
> Lynn St. Amour, Chair of the Multistakeholder Advisory Group of the Internet Governance Forum
> Guy Berger, Director of Division of Freedom of Expression and Media Development, UNESCO
> William Bird, Media Monitoring Africa, Johannesburg
> Harlem Désir, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media
> Helani Galpaya, LIRNEasia, Colombo, Sri Lanka
> Jeanette Hofmann, Berlin Social Science Center
> Joseph Nasongo, Commissioner, National Cohesion and Integration Commission, Kenya
> Mark Nelson, Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA), Washington, DC
> Andrew Puddephatt, Global Partners Digital, London
> Nanjira Sambuli, World Wide Web Foundation, Nairobi
> Leo Van Audenhove, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

and many more.

Go to the FoME website for further information, programm and speakers.

Portfolio

Digitalpolitik. Eine Einführung

In Kooperation mit Wikimedia Deutschland und ICANN hat iRights.international diesen Reader produziert, dessen Ziel es ist zu erlä...

IGF Academy Transfer Guide

The guide compiles the results of the work done by the IGF Academy Fellows initiating Internet governance processes in their respe...

Guidebook Internet Governance

How the Internet is governed in the future will shape global communications, development and human rights. The Internet governance...

Expertise

At iRights.international we focus on the effects digitisation has on society. Our main fields of engagement are Internet governance, digital policy advice and algorithmic governance. In order to help institutions, politicians and the private sector understand the challenges of digitisation and the spread of the Internet, we provide evidence-based analytical research and policy advice.

We care deeply about the multistakeholder approach as a means of managing the challenges of transformational technologies and societal change. Our methods therefore include the convening of multistakeholder hearings, aimed at producing tangible outcomes. Whenever possible, we publish the outcomes as free content in order to maximise their effects. Our fields of expertise:

Internet Governance

We have been involved in Internet governance since the first World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva 2003 – as reporters, consultants, organisers and facilitators. In 2016, we founded the IGF Academy to foster freedom of information in the Global South by initiating and enhancing Internet governance processes.

Algorithmic Governance

Algorithmic decision making (ADM) has become ubiquitous in recent years. It holds enormous promise and carries enormous dangers. With AlgorithmWatch, we created the world’s first advocacy organisation dedicated to monitoring and investigating these processes and shedding light on the consequences they have on society.

Digital Policy Advice

Digitisation, combined with the worldwide spread of the Internet leaves no stone unturned. It changes the way we work and relax, learn and play, love and live. We work with universities and public administration, government and MPs, philanthropic organisations, civil society and private companies to maximise the benefits of this development for the public good.

About us

iRights is a non-governmental organisation based in Berlin. Consisting of iRights e.V., a charitable non-profit, and the think tank iRights.international, we have been active at the intersection of digitisation and society for more than ten years. Since 2005 we have been running the iRights.info online platform, one of Germany’s premier resources for information and discussions on copyright, privacy, media freedom and Internet governance issues.

We develop joint projects and provide research and consultancy for a wide range of stakeholders: foundations and other NGOs, government and public entities, private companies, academic institutions and individuals. Our mission: To harness the opportunities of digitisation for the promotion of democracy and the public good. Our approach: We offer our expertise and create spaces for the cooperative development of practical solutions.

Team

Matthias Spielkamp

Matthias is a journalist and entrepreneur in Berlin. In 2016, he co-founded AlgorithmWatch, an advocacy organisation focused on algorithmic accountability. In 2004, he co-funded the online magazine iRights.info – about legal issues in the digital world, which in 2006 received the Grimme Online Award, Germany’s most prestigious award for online journalism. He now serves as its publisher. As a consultant and trainer Matthias has worked with journalists in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East for almost 20 years. He testified before several committees of the German Bundestag on artificial intelligence and robotics, future developments of journalism, surveillance and more. Currently, Matthias is a Bucerius Fellow of the ZEIT foundation; in 2015/16 he was a Fellow at Stiftung Mercator. He serves on the governing board of the German section of Reporters Without Borders and the advisory council of the Whistleblower Network. In the steering committee of the German Internet Governance Forum (IGF-D), he acts as co-chair for the academia and civil society stakeholder groups. Matthias has co-authored and edited several books on Internet governance, journalism and copyright regulation and holds master’s degrees in Journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder and Philosophy from the Free University of Berlin.