Bloggers for Human Rights: New Media vs Repressive Regimes

Panel discussion in Ottawa with Wael Abbas, internationally-renowned Egyptian blogger

OTTAWA – September 30, 2009 – Uprisings in Burma, China, Iran and Zimbabwe in the last two years have demonstrated the growing importance of new forms of media as alternative sources of information in authoritarian states. No doubt, such media do offer an avenue for freedom of expression, but do they ultimately enhance democratic development?

The second seminar of Rights & Democracy’s “Cross-Canada Dialogue series” will discuss the topic “New Media vs Repressive Regimes, Democratic Development and the Freedom of Expression.” This free public event will take place in Ottawa on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 and will be webcasted live on our website (www.dd-rd.ca/seminar2).

Debating the issue will be Wael Abbas, renowned Egyptian journalist, blogger and human rights activist; Megan Boler, Professor at the University of Toronto and author of Digital Media and Democracy; andMicheline (Mika) Lévesque, Program Officer at Rights & Democracy and manager of a project that supports the Democratic Voice of Burma’s underground journalists. The Honourable Steven John Fletcher, Minister of State (Democratic Reform), will provide the opening remarks.

“For citizens, alternative media are a means of claiming their right to freedom of expression, as well as political and civil rights,” said Rémy M. Beauregard, President of Rights & Democracy. “Our Ottawa seminar will encourage debate on the role these media play in fostering human rights and democratic development and their impact on the power structures within authoritarian regimes.”

Rights & Democracy currently implements democratic development programmes that address the issue of the freedom of expression in Burma, China, Jordan, Morocco and Zimbabwe.

Launched earlier this year, Rights & Democracy’s new “Cross-Canada Dialogue series” aims to provide Canadians with up-to-the-minute information on some of the main human rights challenges facing the international community today.

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For more information or to organise an interview, please contact Rights & Democracy:

Marie-Hélène Bachand / Steve Smith, External relations officers
mhbachand@dd-rd.ca, ssmith@dd-rd.ca
(514) 283-6073, ext. 240 / 255

Rights & Democracy is a non-partisan, independent Canadian institution created by an Act of Parliament in 1988 to promote democratic development and to advocate for and defend human rights set out in the International Bill of Human Rights. In cooperation with civil society and governments in Canada and abroad, Rights & Democracy initiates and supports programmes to strengthen laws and democratic institutions, principally in developing countries.