Dear AoIR colleagues, find below our save the date. Please circulate in your networks, if appropriate. Thanks a lot and kind regards Matthias Power Shifts. Media Freedom and the Internet FoME Symposium 2017 November 16-17 Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Berlin Hosted by iRights In many countries, not only in the developing world, governments are pushing for more control over the Internet. Censoring content is a growth industry, and Internet and social network shutdowns in response to civil protest and unrest are on the rise. Online surveillance is exploding and people are being increasingly intimidated or detained because of their online activities. Therefore it is vital for civil society and the media to work together in order to shape the Internet of the future and ensure it remains in the service of democracy. And the role of international media assistance needs to be reconsidered in this context. At the core of the symposium will be the following questions: - How to address Internet filtering and blocking in authoritarian regimes? - How to counter “fake news” without stifling freedom of expression? - How to minimize risks emerging from cyber security initiatives? - Should the media development community engage more in the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) processes? - Should media development focus its attention more to international digital media enterprises? - How to regulate or control the expansion of digital surveillance programs? - Should digital information literacy be more prominent on the media development agenda? These and other issues will be discussed at the 2017 symposium of the Forum Media and Development (FoME), taking place in Berlin on November 16-17. The FoME symposium will bring together journalists, media managers, media development specialists, activists, academics and representatives from government and private companies from around the world to exchange views and foster ideas to keep the Internet free and open – for media and citizens around the globe. The symposium is organized and hosted by iRights in cooperation with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. FoME is an initiative of 20 organisations from German-speaking countries active in international media development, including iRights, Reporters without Borders, CAMECO, Deutsche Welle Akademie, ECPMF, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, IDEM, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and others. Detailed information regarding the FoME Symposium 2017 will be available from September 15th at www.fome.info.