09:00 AM - 11:00 AM
In this panel discussion, Seife Ayalew, Yoseph Badwaza, Kassahun Follo and Obang Metho examined the success, opportunities, and challenges of Ethiopia’s democratic transformation one year after the inauguration of Abiy Ahmed as Prime Minister.
02:00 PM - 03:30 PM
Emerging young voices in independent media from Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation, and Armenia discussed the common challenges they face while reporting within their home countries and across the region.
03:00 PM - 04:30 PM
Ronald J. Deibert and Xiao Qiang discussed the multifaceted challenges posed by sharpening levels of online polarization and manipulation, new threats to individual rights and privacy in the digital space, the tension between the business model of social media companies and their responsibilities to democratic societies, and authoritarian efforts to diffuse digital technologies of surveillance and control.