CALLOUT FOR CONVERSATION & CONVERGENCE:
What could a Global Independent Media/Tech Network be in the Era of Corporate Social Media?
It’s been seventeen years since Indymedia exploded onto the scene and proved that “Another Media is Possible.” With a network of over 100 media centers that provided an unprecedented participatory online platform for users to share digital news in the manner that mainstream newsmakers would later call “citizen journalism,” the Indymedia Network was organized through a set of intentional Principles of Unity aimed at setting this news innovation in line with a thriving global anti-capitalist movement, anti-racist uprisings, the free and opensource software movement, and the movement for media democracy.
Yet, fast forward to 2016 and the majority of “indymedia” is filtered through corporate-owned technology. Codes and concepts developed by Indymedia’s global network of tech workers and grassroots media organizers have repeatedly been hijacked by the capitalist economy to develop user interfaces cohesive with profit motives. Many activists, at times unaware of this history and the tech leadership pioneered by Indymedia, now use these corporate social media tools at a scale far beyond what Indymedia ever facilitated. As a result we are seeing the simultaneous massification of social movement media, and the rise of coordinated surveillance at a scale unimaginable only a decade ago.
This reality presents a significant strategic challenge for our independent media-making movement. We need to address the challenge without squelching the unlocking of power that the appropriation of corporate social media has generated amongst grassroots movements. Grassroots tech workers are vigorously pursuing workarounds and alternatives — including Riseup’s “Crabgrass,”Mayfirst/Peoplelink’s “Social,” and various activist-run “clouds” — that allow users to benefit from corporate social media types of online relations without facilitating the for-profit exploitation of personal or network data. These movement tools also remove limitations that corporate software impose, expanding the capacity of the software for organizing. But despite these innovations, movement investment in the corporate tools remains high, and a strong Indymedia network has been conspicuously absent.
What would it take to invigorate a global independent media/tech network in the era of corporate social media? What can we learn from how movements like Occupy, Black Lives Matter, and Nuit Debout used both corporate social media and autonomous media platforms? How can we build a network that allows each of these autonomous media initiatives to build upon and contribute to an organized global network of autonomous media and technology collectives?
We call for these questions to be addressed at events leading up to and at the World Social Forum (WSF) and World Forum on Free Media (WFFM) taking place this August in Montreal, Quebec. We call for a convergence in Montreal of reporters, techies, organizers, hackers, geeks, video ninjas, writers, photo bugs and anyone who at one point or another knew (or wanted to know) the meaning of the letters I-M-C. We are doing this to rekindle the spirit of an international movement of autonomous communications making, during a time where independent media and movement-owned technology are urgently needed.
Call for Conversation & Convergence in Montreal: August 7-14, 2016
Media and technology activists based Montreal (Quebec, Canada) are preparing to host an Indymedia convergence during the World Forum of Free Media (WFFM). The WFFM will open August 7, 2016, two days before the World Social Forum (WSF) convenes in Montreal until August 14. Recognizing the opportunity to connect with media and technology movements during the WFFM and WSF events does not diminish criticisms of social forum processes. In addition to talking about Indymedia, these Montreal meetings are an opportunity to act on these ideas through organizing independent, collaborative coverage of the WSF and WFFM. One objective of these activities is to simulate a common project for media and technology activists.
Meeting in Montreal this August is an opportunity to realign a common front of independent media and technology activism to amplify the global justice movement and critiques of capitalism.
We acknowledge these events are proposed to take place on the traditional territory of the Kanien’kehá:ka. The Kanien’kehá:kaare the keepers of the Eastern Door of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The island of “Montreal” is known as Tiotia:ke in the language ofthe Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawks). Historically, this location was a meeting place for other Indigenous nations, including the Anishnabe (Algonquin) peoples. We invite participants to learn more about resistance to colonization and the role of communication technologies — one theme being prepared for the Montreal WFFM events.
Conversations leading to this callout have been taking place at various forums, including the First Free Media and Technology Convergence in Montreal in March, the Media Activist Research Conference in Orillia in May, and at the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair in May. An additional strategy session will be held at the Allied Media Conference in Detroit in June. During the lead-up to August, we encourage you to host conversations at events where media and technologist activists are gathering, and share the clarity you generate. We have set up an open list for this purpose:
http://la.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/indy-shareTo sign your organization/collective/group onto this Callout, and/or get involved in the planning for the Montreal Convergence, please email
indy-converge@la.indymedia.org…and watch this page for updates on plans for the Montreal Convergence!
CALLOUT ENDORSERS:
Los Angeles Independent Media Center
subMedia.tv
PeoplesMediaCenter.net
Montreal Media Co-op
Indymedia Africa Working Group
May First/People Link
Open Media Network
