Event

From smear campaigns to extreme surveillance

From the Peace Prize Exhibition 2023. Photo: Johannes Granseth / Nobel Peace Center

Nobel Peace Talks: Learn how new technology is used to double down on demonstrants and activists in Iran.

Time: 17 Apr 2024 16:00 - 17:00 CEST
Place: Nobel Peace Center

Watch recording of event:

Activists used social media effectively in the Iranian protests after Mahsa Jina Amini’s death in September 2022. But the regime is also using new technology to double down on activists and on ordinary women and girls:

Face recognition is used to surveil and identify girls and women who are walking on the streets without a headscarf. More than a million women have received SMS warnings threatening that their cars will be confiscated because they have been seen driving unveiled. And a number of women’s activists have had their social media accounts removed and have been targeted with organized smear campaigns. Iran’s government is but one amongst a growing global list of rights abusing governments using technology to suppress their population.

In this event, co-organized with Amnesty International Norway, we look at how technology is used to target women and human rights defenders and discuss what can be done to protect their rights. You will meet:

  • Mahsa Alimardani, Senior Researcher, Article 19.
  • Gerald Folkvord, Political Adviser, Amnesty Int. Norway
  • Moderator: Samina Vabo Ansari, Founding Director, Social Sustainability & Tech
Narges Mohammadi portrait, the peace prize laureate of 2023
A PART OF NOBEL PEACE TALKS

The event is a part of the Nobel Peace Center’s event series Nobel Peace Talks, with topics related to the Nobel Peace Prize 2023 to Narges Mohammadi.

View other Nobel Peace Talks