Stockholm Internet Forum 2019

 The closing session of this year's Stockholm Internet Forum will condense two days of discussions and distill a way forward. It will highlight upcoming technologies that present both challenges and opportunities for democratic space (such as the many consequences of ever more advanced AI as well as the widespread adoption of block chain-based solutions).

As new technology proliferates, the onus is on civil rights activists to highlight its impact on privacy, freedom of expression as well as economic, social and cultural rights. Likewise, those still lacking access to to the Internet and other new technologies must be represented in the discussions.

The online world is getting ever more entangled with the offline world. At the same time, complex threats are multiplying. The demand for clear and considered policy advice in solving many of the increasingly acute challenges facing not just the online sphere, but the foundations of democracy itself, will continue to increase.

The panel will, therefore, strive to extract common challenges and strategies, including ways to strengthen linkages between conversations in civil society and the broader global political debate. It will seek to articulate a common purpose and call for a renewed mobilization for a free, open and secure Internet.