{"id":39779,"date":"2018-11-28T12:27:46","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T09:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smex.org\/?p=12348"},"modified":"2018-11-28T12:27:46","modified_gmt":"2018-11-28T09:27:46","slug":"its-a-wrap-4-key-takeaways-from-the-first-breadnet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breadandnet.org\/ar\/its-a-wrap-4-key-takeaways-from-the-first-breadnet\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a wrap! 4 key takeaways from the first Bread&Net 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

On November 20 and 21, around 200 people from over 20 countries gathered together in Beirut for 35 panels, talks, and workshops at <\/span>\u062e\u0628\u0632 \u0648 \u0646\u062a<\/span><\/a>, the region\u2019s digital rights unconference.\u00a0<\/span>Hosted by SMEX and organized collaboratively with supporters and partners, Bread&Net created an offline space for discussion about technology and society, in a casual yet safe environment supported by the event\u2019s code of conduct<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lawyers, policy makers, journalists, technologists, activists, and creatives led talks around different themes: policy in difficult contexts, networks and communities, culture and knowledge production online, and language and localization. <\/span><\/p>\n

A regional discussion<\/b>
\nWith almost all sessions in Arabic, and attendees coming from across the MENA region, Bread&Net was firmly rooted in the pressing issues faced by communities in the region. People joined Bread&Net from over 20 countries. We\u2019re also delighted that more than 50% of attendees identified as women, and that we had an even gender ratio among speakers and session hosts. <\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond the core two-day unconference, there were additional events such as a <\/span>documentary screening of \u201cThe Cleaners\u201d<\/span><\/a> followed by an engaging discussion on social media platform content moderation. On the day before Bread&Net, partners <\/span>7iber<\/span><\/a> and the <\/span>Arab Digital Expression Foundation (ADEF)<\/span><\/a> led an <\/span>Editathon<\/span><\/a> to launch the creation of an <\/span>Arabic technical language glossary.<\/span><\/a> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Technology and society have become inextricably linked, and there\u2019s no going back <\/span>\u2014 <\/span>so what kind of (digital) future do we want? In consideration of this question, here are some key takeaways from Bread&Net 2018 that we\u2019d like to share: \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Digital laws and policies matter, but the MENA region lags behind<\/b>
\nDuring one of the opening panels on Day 1 of Bread&Net, \u2018How to resist harsh cyber security laws,<\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/i> Lebanese Judge Hania El Helweh said, \u201cfreedom of expression is sacred\u2026 there needs to be a distinction between criticism and insult.\u201d Yet existing and forthcoming laws were critiqued during the panel: for instance, Jordanian lawyer Omar Atout stated that the cybercrimes draft law in Jordan is \u201cat odds with international conventions and best practices.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The application of legal frameworks also needs attention: Egyptian attorney Hassan Al Azhari <\/span>h<\/span>ighlighted that for cybercrime cases in Egypt, there is often pretrial detention without any reason being given. In the session \u2018Tripartite aggression on online freedom in Palestine,\u2019 <\/span>7amleh<\/span><\/a> reported that in 2015-16, 400 people were arrested, of which 200 were ultimately charged, under the pretext of \u201cinciting violence and terrorism\u201d for content they had written and shared online. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Corporations need to step up in shaping rights-based digital policy in the region<\/b>
\nGiven violations by some governments against online freedom of expression, corporations need to step up in shaping policy in the MENA region, and not be complicit in shrinking civic space. For instance, only 4 out of 66 mobile operators in the Arab region make both their Terms of Services and Privacy Policy publically available, according to <\/span>research by SMEX<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0In a session entitled \u2018How to involve corporate actors in protecting and promoting human rights online,\u2019 Eman Jaradat from the<\/span> Jordan Open Source Association (JOSA)<\/span><\/a> pointed out that governments in our region also \u201ctend to to protect corporations more than citizens; in addition to not protecting users\u2019 data as they should, they are banning VOIP services to earn more money and to fight criminal activity, without any consideration for user rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In another session, \u2018Demanding more from companies: content moderation and what we can do,\u2019 panelists and audience members called on global technology giants like Facebook and Twitter to listen to regional voices and their regional policy experts in their decision making, rather than governments. While global and regional technology companies and mobile operators were invited, only a few were present at Bread&Net, notably Twitter. We hope more can join us next year and be part of the discussion!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
“Digitizing Gender and Sex in the Arabic speaking World: Successes and Challenges” session (Hamza Chamas\/SMEX)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wikis are BIG in MENA!<\/b>
\nOne surprising takeaway from Bread&Net was the popularity of wikis in the Arab region. A wiki is a server program based on collaborative trust, as it allows multiple users to collaborate in creating and editing web content. <\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a strong commitment to wikis in the region: the <\/span>WikiGender project<\/span><\/a>; the <\/span>Arabic technical language glossary<\/span><\/a> created during the editathon; and community owned cartography on <\/span>OpenStreetMap <\/span><\/a>in Palestine; as well as Wikimedia Foundation projects like <\/span>Wikimonuments<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Wikidata<\/span><\/a>. Wikis also led to the most heated debate of the the conference, during the session \u2018To Wikipedia or not to Wikipedia?\u2019 A long-time member of the Arabic Wikipedia community said that, \u201cthe community was not welcoming and there were different ideologies at play.\u201d Attendees of this session raised the question: \u201cwhose voice is heard on Arabic Wikipedia <\/span>\u2014 <\/span>does self-moderation work in our region?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Online networks offer greater freedoms, but also heightened risks, especially for some communities. <\/b>
\nAt Bread&Net, LGBTIQ, feminist, and migrant worker organizers explored how online tools offered new means of collaboration and organizing in the civic space, but also led to new privacy concerns, new modes of harassment, and greater risk of surveillance. For instance, in the discussion \u201c Hate speech & privacy threats to the LGBTIQ community,\u201d we learned that after a general crackdown on the LGBTIQ community in Egypt following a concert by Lebanese band <\/span>Mashrou3 Leila<\/span><\/a>, authorities used catfishing tactics on the dating app Grindr to identify LGBTIQ-identifying individuals. <\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, in countries where homosexuality is illegal, how can a member of the LGBTIQ community safely report online harassment? On a more positive note, we also learned about how mapping technologies can be used as a tool to document and advocate against harassment. <\/span>
\nThis is just the beginning! Thank you to everyone who came and made Bread&Net such a huge success. A special thank you to the <\/span>\u0627\u0644\u0644\u062c\u0646\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0625\u0633\u062a\u0634\u0627\u0631\u064a\u0629<\/span><\/a> and our partners. <\/span><\/p>\n

We hope to see more regional voices at global conferences like the <\/span>Internet Freedom Festival (IFF)<\/span><\/a> in Valencia and <\/span>RightsCon <\/span><\/a>in Tunis. Stay tuned for Bread&Net 2.0!<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Sacha Robehmed is a researcher and writer based in Beirut.<\/em> <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On November 20 and 21, around 200 people from over 20 countries gathered together in Beirut for 35 panels, talks, and workshops at Bread&Net, the region\u2019s digital rights unconference.\u00a0Hosted by SMEX and organized collaboratively with supporters and partners, Bread&Net created an offline space for discussion about technology and society, in a casual yet safe environment 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