Activists, Lawmakers, Engineers: Speakers at MozFest 2019
At MozFest’s 10th anniversary, 20 luminaries will discuss what lies ahead for the internet and society
This October, the Mozilla Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary — and some of the biggest thinkers from the internet health movement will share the MozFest stage to talk about responsible AI, the future of disinformation, the state of online surveillance, and more.
The MozFest speaker series, “Dialogues & Debates,” will unfold across Saturday, October 26 and Sunday, October 27. The program features TED-style talks and compelling panels about the intersection of the internet and society. Speakers are engineers, researchers, lawmakers, and activists from Kenya, Poland, the U.S., and beyond.
Solo talks run 20 minutes, and panels run 40 minutes. This year’s moderator is technology journalist Xavier Harding, reporter at The Markup.
Below, learn more about each talk and panel. Can’t join us in London? No worries — we’ll stream everything live on Air Mozilla. In the meantime, watch last year’s talks.
Meet the MozFest 2019 speakers
[1] TALK: Katarzyna Szymielewicz on data and exploitation
Katarzyna Szymielewicz is a lawyer and activist specializing in human rights and technology. She is Co-Founder and President of Panoptykon Foundation, a Polish NGO defending human rights in today’s surveillance society.
When: Saturday, October 26, 11:15–12:15 time block
[2] PANEL: The Algorithmic Gaze
Algorithms spread bias at gigabit speeds. What does this mean for society? And who can fix it?
Who: Cansu Canca, Founder and Director of the AI Ethics Lab
Guillaume Chaslot, Founder of AlgoTransparency, former software engineer at Google/YouTube, and Mozilla Fellow
When: Saturday, October 26, 11:15–12:15 time block
[3] PANEL: Great Code, Great Responsibility
How do we fix the internet? Teach the next generation of coders ethics right alongside computer science
Who: Kathy Pham, computer scientist and Mozilla Fellow co-leading the Responsible Computer Science Challenge. She teaches Product Management and Society at the Harvard Kennedy School, co-leads the Ethical Tech Working Group at the Harvard Berkman Klein Center, and founded the Ethical Tech Collective
Bitange Ndemo, ICT Specialist and Associate Professor at the University of Nairobi
When: Saturday, Oct. 26 during the 12:45–13:45 time block
[4] TALK: Who Wants to Be a Rebel?
Marietje Schaake has been named Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center’s international policy director, as well as international policy fellow at the University’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (starting November 1).
Between 2009 and 2019, Marietje served as a Member of European Parliament for the Dutch liberal democratic party where she focused on trade, foreign affairs and technology policies. Marietje regularly speaks at conferences and in international media. She is affiliated with a number of non-profits including the European Council on Foreign Relations and the Observer Research Foundation in India, and writes a bi-weekly column for the Dutch NRC newspaper.
When: Saturday, Oct. 26 during the 15:15–16:15 time block
[5] PANEL: The Future of Disinformation
What will fake content look like in five years? In 10?
Who: Camille François, Chief Innovation Officer at Graphika and Mozilla Fellow
Claire Wardle, Co-Founder of First Draft and TED Fellow
When: Saturday, Oct. 26 during the 15:15–16:15 time block
[6] PANEL: Content Moderation’s Toll
A hidden workforce tries to keep platforms free from violence and pornography. How do they cope?
Who: Hans Block, Director of “The Cleaners”
Gabi Ivens, independent open source researcher and Mozilla Fellow
Chris Gray, former content moderator for Facebook and lead plaintiff in a class action representing moderators who have been harmed by the work
Moritz Riesewieck, Director of “The Cleaners”
Clara Tsao, content moderation researcher and Mozilla Fellow
When: Sunday, Oct. 27 during the 11:00–12:00 time block
[7] PANEL: Governing AI
How do we create policies that keep companies accountable and enshrine human rights in automated systems?
Who: Gry Hasselbalch is Co-Founder of the think-do tank DataEthics.eu. She is a member of the European Commission’s High Level Expert Group on AI and was a member of the data ethics expert group appointed to provide the Danish government with recommendations in 2018. Gry is also co-chair of the IEEE P7006 standard on personal data AI agents
Fanny Hidvegi, Access Now’s Europe Policy Manager based in Brussels. Fanny is appointed to the European Commission’s High Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence, serves on the board of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU), and is a Marshall Memorial Fellow
Matthias Spielkamp, Co-Founder and Executive Director of AlgorithmWatch, and an award-winning journalist
Philip Dawson, Public Policy Lead at Element AI
When: Sunday, Oct. 27 during the 12:45–13:45 time block
[8] TALK: Cansu Canca on ethical AI
Cansu Canca is a philosopher and the founder/director of the AI Ethics Lab, where she leads teams of computer scientists, philosophers, and legal scholars to provide ethics analysis and guidance to researchers and practitioners.
When: Sunday, Oct. 27 during the 15:15–16:15 time block
[9] PANEL: The Future of Digital Policy in Europe
What comes after the GDPR?
Who: Prabhat Agarwal, Deputy Head of Platforms Unit at European Commission
Katarzyna Szymielewicz, Co-Founder and President of Panoptykon Foundation
Guillermo Beltrà, who leads Access Now’s policy team globally, providing strategic vision, guiding and coordinating the operations of experts in Latin America, North America, Europe, Middle East and North Africa, and Asia-Pacific
When: Sunday, Oct. 27 during the 15:15–16:15 time block
And your Dialogues & Debates moderator Xavier Harding. Xavier Harding is from New York City and started his journalism career at International Business Times/Newsweek as a tech and gaming reporter. From there he went onto Popular Science. As tech editor of Popular Science’s Now section, he continued to write about gadgets and the companies that make them, both in print and on the web. After Popular Science came Mic, where he was able to write culture stories pertaining to race/inclusion, the tech industry and user privacy online. Now Xavier writes for The Markup, where he focuses on user privacy and the tech industry’s larger effect on society.
