Established in fall 2011, GW Law's Global Internet Freedom and Human Rights Distinguished Speaker Series is presented through the generous support of Microsoft. The series, organized and coordinated by Professors Dawn Nunziato and Arturo Carrillo, presents a range of timely topics addressing global internet free speech and human rights issues.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Noon
Microsoft Policy & Innovation Center, 901 K Street, NW, 11th Floor
RSVP to: dcrsvp@microsoft.com
Remarks by Rebecca MacKinnon, co-founder, Global Voices Online, and Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow, New America Foundation
Presenter information:
A journalist and an activist, Rebecca MacKinnon examines the intersection of the internet, human rights, and foreign policy. As a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, Ms. MacKinnon examines U.S. policies related to the internet and human rights. Her first book, Consent of the Networked, is a forthcoming publication by Basic Books. She is the co-founder of Global Voices Online, a global citizen media network, and is also a founding member of the Global Network Initiative, a multi-stakeholder initiative to advance principles of freedom of expression and privacy in the information and communications technology sector. Ms. MacKinnon worked as a journalist for CNN in Beijing for nine years, serving as CNN's Beijing bureau chief and correspondent, and then as CNN's Tokyo bureau chief and correspondent.
Past Speaker Series Events
Remarks were made by Dunja Mijatović, representative on Freedom of the Media, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), at the first Speaker Series event held Oct 3, 2011. View the event video.
Presenter information:
An expert in media law and regulation, Dunja Mijatović was appointed OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media in 2010. Previously, Ms. Mijatović served as chairperson of the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities, the world's largest network of media regulators.
She is a co-founder of the Communications Regulatory Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina that was established in 1998. In that role, Ms. Mijatović encouraged a legal and policy framework for media in the post-war society. She is a graduate of the University of Sarajevo, the University of Bologna, and the London School of Economics.
In the second presentaton of the series, remarks were made by Dr. Ian Brown, senior research fellow, Oxford Internet Institute, on Oct 24.
Presenter information:
In addition to his role as research fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, Dr. Brown has served as a trustee of Privacy International, the Open Rights Group, and the Foundation for Information Policy Research. He has also served as an adviser to Greenpeace, the Refugee Children's Consortium, Amnesty International, and Creative Commons UK. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, the International University of Japan, and the British Computer Society. He also has served as a senior member of the Association for Computing Machinery, and has consulted for numerous organizations including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, JP Morgan, McAfee, and the BBA.
Dr. Brown has written for the Financial Times, Daily Telegraph, and Guardian. In 2004, he was voted as one of the 100 most influential people in the development of the internet in the United Kingdom during the previous decade.
At the first Spring Speaker Series event held Jan 18, remarks were made by Frank La Rue, U.N. special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
- Browse photographs of the event on SmugMug.
- Watch the video of this event.
Presenter information:
The U.N. Human Rights Council appointed Frank La Rue to the post of special rapporteur in March 2008. The position focuses on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Earlier this year, the Council renewed his mandate until 2014.
Mr. La Rue has been involved in the promotion of human rights for 25 years. He is the founder and president of the Center for Legal Action for Human Rights (CALDH) in his native Guatemala. CALDH is a renowned NGO that has brought pioneering human rights cases in Guatemalan courts as well as to the Inter-American Human Rights System. Mr. La Rue has held a number of other important posts as well. He served as presidential commissioner for human rights in Guatemala, as a human rights adviser to the minister of foreign affairs, and as president of the governing board of the Centro-American Institute of Social Democracy Studies.
He holds a B.A. in legal and social studies from the University of San Carlos in Guatemala, and a post-graduate degree in U.S. foreign policy from Johns Hopkins University. In 2004, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.