Sign up today to attend #BreadandNet Online here.You will receive the agenda and the link to each session in your email on May 13, 14, and 15
SMEX will host the sixth iteration of the annual regional digital rights event, Bread&Net, which will be held online on May 13, 14, and 15.
Bread&Net is an event that brings together tech experts, activists, policymakers, academics, and media practitioners from the region to discuss and address pressing issues at the intersection of technology, society, and human rights. This gathering aims to strengthen an already blooming digital rights movement in West Asia and North Africa, fostering the exchange of knowledge, research, and digital resources to sustain civil society in its fight for safe, just, and inclusive digital spaces.
Our region is at a volatile and bleak moment. Over the past year, Sudan has been under a harrowing and largely forgotten war, with over eight million people forced to flee for safety and nearly 20 million facing severe food insecurity. In Yemen, more than half the population is in dire need of aid after a decade of fighting. The Israeli occupation continues its unrelenting genocidal agenda in Gaza while bombing towns and villages in Lebanon’s south on a daily basis.
Violence and political instability inflict immeasurable suffering upon millions and also bring about significant challenges to digital rights in our region. In response to these pressing issues, we invite you to participate in our upcoming events, Bread&Net Online, hosted by SMEX, and the Palestine Digital Activism Forum (PDAF), hosted by 7amleh. These meeting junctures offer an opportunity to discuss, address, and respond to unprecedented risks affecting our digital rights.
On May 13, 14, and 15, SMEX will hold a series of webinars as part of Bread&Net Online: Digital Rights in Times of War. These sessions will cover challenges related to internet access and shutdowns, content moderation, misinformation, and data privacy, among others. On June 4 and 5, 7amleh will host their annual Palestine Digital Activism Forum (PDAF), Artificial Intelligence (AI): Revolutionary Promises & Discriminatory Realities. The forum will be an opportunity to explore AI’s potential for positive social impact and driving innovation forward while highlighting the horrific consequences AI-fueled technologies have had on Palestinians, including the use of AI-targeting systems and facial recognition technologies during wartime, and mass surveillance under occupation.
We are meeting over the next two months to share insights, build on past work, and rethink new ways of imagining our collective fight against persisting and emerging challenges.
Through collaboration and mutual support, we can strengthen the digital rights movement and work towards a future where the rights and freedoms of all individuals, both online and offline, are upheld and protected.
“I would like to emphasize the importance of bringing our community together to share and express emerging issues related to digital rights that we are all facing during this time of war. It is crucial that we continue to support one another and organize to challenge any online injustice, from algorithmic biases to local regulations in our region,” said Mohamad Najem, Executive Director at SMEX.
“It’s essential to consolidate our efforts and cultivate unity among communities in our region, particularly in light of unprecedented challenges jeopardizing our digital rights. With AI-driven technologies increasingly intersecting with violence and human rights violations, PDAF will be addressing these pressing issues,” said Nadim Nashif, Founder and Director of 7amleh. “History has shown that technologies initially targeted at the Palestinian people are subsequently exported and utilized against marginalized and oppressed communities worldwide. Bearing this in mind, our objective is to convene individuals to strategize collectively against AI-powered oppression on a global level.”
Bread&Net and PDAF are free and public events, open to anyone interested in how technology shapes, brings forth, and even hinders human rights. We encourage participants from academia, civil society organizations, policymakers, and the private sector to join us as we envision a more inclusive, secure, and rights-respecting digital future for our region.
Palestine Digital Activism Forum (PDAF)
What is Bread&Net?
Every year, SMEX hosts and organizes the leading unconference on digital rights and freedoms in West Asia and North Africa: Bread&Net. Advocates for human rights in the digital age can find and join trusted, diverse networks where they can build their knowledge on digital rights and work together to pressure power holders to respect and protect their human rights. The aim of Bread&Net is to build, expand, and strengthen the movement for digital rights in WANA, equipping it in its struggle for greater freedom, social justice, accountability, and security for all people in the region.
About SMEXSMEX is a non-profit that advances and defends human rights and freedoms in the digital sphere across West Asia and North Africa. SMEX advocates for people in the WANA and the diaspora to be able to access and engage with the internet, mobile services, and other networked spaces safely and without fear of censorship, surveillance, or repercussion. We monitor abuses to digital rights through reporting and campaigning, and we conduct research, training, and advocacy on internet policy and digital rights to support the expansion of more accessible and participatory environments for individuals and civil society. SMEX also offers free, technical, and rapid response service to support individuals and organizations under digital threats and attacks via its Digital Safety Helpdesk.
About 7amleh
7amleh-The Arab Center for Social Media Advancement is a non-profit organisation aimed at enabling Palestinian and Arab civil society to effectively utilise the tools of digital advocacy through professional capacity building, defending digital rights and building influential digital media campaigns.
About PDAF
7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media started the Palestine Digital Activism Forum in 2017 and has become one of the pillars of 7amleh’s annual programming. It seeks to provide a space for exchanging social media experiences, expertise, and developing strategies to address challenges and threats faced by digital activists. Additionally, PDAF aims to link the work of local organizations and movements with international counterparts to exchange experiences, find solutions to dilemmas, and establish cooperation and coordination of actions.
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