Debating Free Expression
Professor Elisabeth Eide
Read about the event covered by The Jakarta Post.
Under the headline Ten Years Debating Freedom of Expression – Looking Back, Looking Forward appr. 40 participants – both journalists and media academics – from twelve countries gathered in Jakarta 23 – 25 January.
The debates started after the controversies in the aftermath of the Muhammed caricatures published in Jyllands-Posten. One of the initiatives was to invite journalists from a wide range of countries for dialogue conferences in Indonesia and Norway respectively. Now, more than ten years after the first Global Intermedia Dialogue (GIMD) conference was held in Indonesia, the ambition was to highlight experiences and look ahead.
The discussions focused on themes such as Hate Speech – Social media, Media and Marginalization – Gender, Religious, Ethnic and Sexual Minorities, Dialogue vs Confrontation, 20 Years after Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations”, Terrorism – Extremism, The Post-Truth Era?– and last, but not least: How free is fiction? Literature and limits.
The conference was a cooperation between the Department of Communication, Universitas Indonesia and JMIC.
A publication with journalistic and academic contributions from this and a conference in March last year is planned.
