Conference and Hackathon “Internet Without Borders” in Riga

The conference and hackathon 'Internet without borders' will take place on May 19 - 20. The event brings together leading experts, innovators, and activists from IT and civil rights domains to come up with up-to-date solutions for challenges of internet censorship. Both conference and hackathon are designed to develop new strategies and improve existing tools to prevent internet shut-downs. Participants are invited to think about and discuss projects and solutions for countries where access to online content is severely limited.

 

We invite technical specialists (developers, designers, data analysts), as well as journalists, researchers, human rights activists, representatives of the fields of digital, media, marketing, PR, social sciences, and activists to participate in the hackathon. Total prize pool – 10 000$. Apply before May 20 here.

 

The event is organized by eQualitie and Teplitsa. Technologies for Social Good with the local partner The Baltic Center for Media Excellence (BCME) and support of Novaya Gazeta Europe, Общества Защиты Интернета, and international technical partners AmneziaVPN, Lantern, Access Now, OONI, New Node and CENO.

The conference on May 19, will cover the current technological means to circumvent digital censorship, challenges that independent Russian media outlets face amid the tightening censorship grip in Russia, strategies and tactics of information warfare, the psychological impact of Kremlin propaganda and practical experience with fighting the Kremlin propaganda in the Baltic states. Find the conference program here.

 

To attend the conference as a guest, please, register via the link here.

We will confirm your participation within a few days and share more details about the venue and other practicalities.

 

During the hackathon on the second day of the event the teams will work on tasks provided by the event's technical and media partners. The purpose of the hackathon is to design prototypes for a new generation of censorship circumvention tools, developing new paradigms for anti-war campaigns, combating disinformation and information isolation.

Would you like to take part in the hackathon?

Describe your skills and tasks you’re interested in working on via the link here.

 

Have ideas for hackathon tasks, not sure of your skills?

Write us directly: ibg@internetborders.net

 

Conference is held in English and Russian, with simultaneous translation into Latvian. The official language of the hackathon is English. Guests will be served refreshments and light snacks. You can read about previous events in Tbilisi, Yerevan, Warsaw, Berlin, and Vilnius in the spring and summer of 2022 in review and latest events in Haifa and Prague.