Freedom in a Fishbowl:
A conversation on Freedom in the Digital Age

Join us for a conversation with Bijan Moini and Pallavi Paul, moderated by Anushka Jain.

Date, Time: Wednesday, 18th January, 2023 | 18:30
Venue: Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi Registration In the digital age, conditions for freedom have fundamentally changed - almost no area of life is untouched. We are freer to express ourselves artistically, to be heard with our opinions, to connect with each other, to live our religion, or to organise a political movement. On the other hand, digitalisation fundamentally threatens freedom. Data that we give away when using digital platforms and services allow conclusions about our preferences in music and food just as precisely as assumptions about more sensitive areas, such as political attitudes, values, religious affiliation and sexual orientation. This allows governments and companies to surveil, to control, to prosecute, and to manipulate people, both individuals and societies, on a level never seen before. Digitalisation is also revolutionising the labour market, the media, and international relations.

In this conversation, Bijan Moini and Pallavi Paul discuss how freedom is threatened in the digital age, what reality we might face in the future if we don’t take measures, how the arts reflect on the dynamics between digitalisation and freedom – and how, as a society, we can help bring about a digital age that heralds not the end of freedom but the beginning of its next level. The event is moderated by Anushka Jain from the Internet Freedom Foundation.

The Participants

Anushka Jain: Anushka Jain is a lawyer and policy researcher interested in disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, facial recognition and machine learning. She works at the Internet Freedom Foundation.

Bijan Moini: Dr. Bijan Moini is a writer, civil rights activist and lawyer. Bijan has written books on the topic of artificial intelligence and digitization including Save Freedom! A Wake-Up Call in the Digital Age.

Pallavi Paul: Pallavi Paul is a video artist and film researcher. She completed her PhD in Film Studies and her work has been shown at Tate Gallery in London, Contour Biennale in Mechelen and Mumbai Film Festival, among others.

The Projects

This event is organised within the framework of the Freedom Project by the European Union National Institutes of Culture (EUNIC) and the Goethe-Institut.

The EUNIC Freedom Project: The Freedom Project is a multi-voiced exchange integrating European and Indian voices on the topic of Freedom. There are many ways to interpret the term Freedom and through this project, each cultural institute will explore the topic hand-in-hand with audiences here in Delhi.

Goethe-Institut's Freedom Project: Freedom is an online platform commemorating 75 years of India's independence that brings together artists, authors and thinkers from India and Germany to explore what freedom means to individuals and societies in a modern democracy.