Freedom of Expression & Privacy Roundtable Discussion

Debates around free speech occupy an increasing role in public discourse. The events of the Jaipur Literature Festival earlier this year were invoked in a narrative of censorship that continues to enlarge and deepen with a jumble of names and phrases – “Sibal”, “intermediary rules”, “Ramanujan”, “Hussain”, “Caravan” – the list grows. Assertions have been made and reiterated, often by many of the participants who will be attending this roundtable. Responses to curtailments of free speech have to a large extent focused on the shrinking of democratic space and reinforcement of state power.

This forum brings together a cross section of lawyers, activists, researchers and filmmakers who have engaged with different components of free speech and censorship issues over the years.  We’d like to use this as opportunity to focus on how to distil and sharpen current responses to these issues:

How do we characterize the contemporary movement – and how do we think of adequate responses to it, that go beyond the paradigm of state power and historical continuities? Do the free speech debates around traditional media in terms of judicial and regulatory responses extend organically to new media? Or do we need to rethink the terms of the debate?

Speakers will formulate upto 3 propositions and put them before the rest, using their assertions as a trigger points for discussion. This will be in the realm of the normative and prescriptive, and in keeping towards productive discussion, defensible. For instance:  “Privacy as a recognizable norm has ceased to exist”. Propositions may then throw light on the question of whether a different paradigm of analysis is required in the light of online regulation.

This forum will raise questions about what institutional mechanisms, if at all, might we consider to grapple with these issues in the future. Could we imagine for instance, constituting a forum that promotes our common goals by way of pedagogic and policy interventions as well as staging legal challenges?

Participants include:

Chinmayi Arun, National University of Juridical Sciences
Paromita Vohra, Devi Pictures
Geeta Seshu, The Hoot
Apar Gupta, Advocate
Frederick Norohna, Goa 1556
Lawrence Liang, Alternative Law Forum
Vicram Krishna, Privacy International
Anja Kovacs, Internet Democracy Project
Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Senior Journalist
Siddhart Narrain, Alternative Law Forum
Danish Sheikh, Alternative Law Forum
Satish, Video Volunteers *
Maya Ganesh, Tactical Tech*
Anjana Pasricha, The Voice of America*
* To be confirmed

Free & Open to the Public

RSVP Natasha Vaz ([email protected])