The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics

1. desember 2011

The Department for Northern European Studies at Humboldt University and Fritt Ord invite the public to the mini-conference “The Public Sphere after July 22: Freedom of Expression in the Age of online Politics” at The Grimm Centrum Auditorium, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 3, Berlin, on Monday, 5 December 2011

The political public is online. With interactive information and decentralized communication the hold of political elites is being challenged, in democracies as well as dictatorships. But experiences from the countries that are world leading in internet connectivity; are unfortunately not only positive. One has seen a strengthening of the populist right wing in the Nordic countries, Holland and the USA, and now this horrible terrorist act performed by a Norwegian activist from the “dark web” of the “counterjihad”. What are the upsides and downsides, promises and dangers involved in the ongoing shift of democracy to digital platforms?

Registration by December 2: lena.kainz@student.hu-berlin.de

PROGRAMME

Session 1

09:15: Opening by Anne-Kirsti Wedel Karlsen, The Norwegian Embassy.

09:30: Peter R. Neumann, Director of The International Centre for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence, Kings College London:
“Extremism on the net and how to combat it”

10:15: Joseba Zulaika, Professor at the Center for Basque studies, University of Nevada:
“How counter-terrorism furthered terrorism”

Chair: Kjetil A. Jakobsen, Henrik Steffens-Professor, Department for Northern European Studies, Humboldt-University, Berlin

11:00: Coffee

Session 2

11:15: Jostein Gripsrud, Professor, Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen:
“Terrorism, cyberbalkanization and the history of campsite public spheres”

12:00: Hartmut Wessler, Professor for Media and Communication Studies, University of Mannheim:
“A digital public sphere? Some critical reflections on political functions and dysfunctions of the Internet”

Chair: Bernd Henningsen, Professor Emeritus, Department for Northern European Studies , Humboldt University, Berlin

12:45: Lunch

Session 3

14:00: Kjetil A. Jakobsen, Henrik Steffens-Professor, Humboldt University, Berlin:
“From Robespierre to the Counterjihad. Communicating terror in three media regimes; Gutenberg, analogue and digital”

14:45: Torkel Brekke. Professor of History of Religion, University of Oslo:
“Freedom of speech-absolutism in Scandinavia. Some critical reflections”

Chair: Stefanie von Schnurbein, Department for Northern European Studies, Humboldt University, Berlin:

15:30: Coffee

Session 4

15:45-17:30: Plenary debate “Democracy, violence and the new media”

Opening statements by Lars Gule and by Iver Ørstavik, two Norwegian political philosophers and public intellectuals who joined Islamophobic discussion sites in order to keep extremists from isolating themselves. Gule’s and Ørstavik’s reflections on their discussions with Behring Breivik and other internet extremists will be followed by a general debate involving the keynotes, the chairs and the audience.

Scientific coordinator: Kjetil A. Jakobsen and Jostein Gripsrud

Nyheter

Lager dokumentarfilm om NAV-skandalen. Nye tildelinger i februar 2025

10. mars 2025

Produksjonsselskapet Differ Media har fått støtte til dokumentarfilmen «Ingen sort svane» om NAV-skandalen. Johanne Kristensen Sandvik debuterer som regissør med det hun kaller en rettspolitisk thriller.

Støtte får blant annet den ungarsk-tysk-norsk dokumentarfilmen «80 Angry Journalists», NUPI-forsker Øyvind Svendsen til boka «Europas skjebnetid», Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers og podkast om Tyskland. Se nye ordinære tildelinger i februar 2025.

Civitates' Tech & Democracy open call

6. mars 2025

Civitates – The European Democracy Fund is a pooled philanthropic fund that was set up in 2018 for the sole purpose of addressing democratic decline and closing civic space in Europe. The case for confronting these threats is growing increasingly urgent. Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the initiators and partners of Civitates.

Civitates has launched its Tech and Democracy open call to support organisations working to ensure safer, more inclusive online spaces (social media platforms, search engines etc.) by improving the enforcement of EU tech regulations at the national level.

This open call offers a unique opportunity to strengthen civil society’s role in holding the tech sector accountable, with a focus on key EU regulations such as the Digital Services Act, GDPR, AI Act or the European Media Freedom Act to name a few.

Skolelever i Oslo spiller dataspill, 2023.

Nordmenn stadig mer positive til dataspill

5. mars 2025

17 prosent har fått et mer positivt syn på dataspill det siste året. Seks av ti spiller dataspill, og én av tre spiller dataspill ukentlig. Samtidig rangeres feltet lavere i status enn blant annet bøker og musikk.
– Dataspill fortjener mer oppmerksomhet og debatt, sier Joakim Lie i Fritt Ord.

– Dataspill er også kunst

4. mars 2025

– Problemet med altfor mange mediesaker om dataspill er at de starter med setninger som “dataspill har kommet en lang vei siden Pac-Man”, sukker den amerikanske dataspillkritikeren Jacob Geller.

– La oss bare være enige om at dataspill faktisk er en kunstform og et kulturuttrykk – og se på verkene som en del av kunst- og kulturhistorien.