Advocacy in a digital and polarising era
Speakers: Maria Ressa (Rappler.com) and Marta Pardavi (Hungarian Helsinki Committee)
Language: ENGLISH
How do we find a place for debate in an era where discussions are often reduced to emotional hate tweets and social media play an essential role in spreading fake news?
This session focuses on how opinion makers, such as media and civil society organisations, work in a context of growing polarisation and intimidation. How does this affect advocacy and policy work? And how can civil society organisations still achieve results in this deteriorating situation?
With a focus on two countries under a developing authoritarian regime, The Philippines and Hungary, we look for answers to crucial questions. Do we need new advocacy strategies? How do we start a dialogue with politicians who are not open to that idea? How do we spark a public debate in an era where discussions are often reduced to populist hate tweets and social media play an essential role in spreading fake news?
Speakers
Maria Ressa is the CEO and Executive Editor of Rappler.com, one of The Philippines' leading online news organisations. Maria has been acknowledged around the world for her courageous work in the fight against disinformation, “fake news”, and attempts to silence the free press. In 2018, she was named Time Magazine's “Person of the Year”, and won the prestigious Golden Pen of Freedom Award from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-INFRA). Recently, a Manila court has convicted Maria Ressa of cyber libel, due to a 2012 Rappler article. The authorities demand her imprisonment between 6 months and… 6 years.
Márta Pardavi has a Law degree. She is the co-chair of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HCC), a leading human rights NGO in Budapest that works to advance democratic values, the rule of law and civil society, the right to asylum, and a fair criminal justice system. She has been awarded the 2018 "William D. Zabel Human Rights Award" from Human Rights First and the Civil Rights Defenders "Civil Rights Defenders of the Year 2019" award. She is currently on sabbatical leave from the HHC and is a Policy Leader Fellow at the School of Transnational Governance of the European University Institute.
