Quote:The Belgrade Security Conference (BSC) is the biggest high-level Western Balkan conference on foreign policy and security. By-invitation-only gathering of over 400 globally influential people, regional officials, domestic decision-makers, and opinion-formers. It gathers world leaders, diplomats, representatives of international organisations, think-tankers, journalists, activists, academics, and all the brave thinkers who shape the present to influence a better future. The BSC is a continuation of the Belgrade Security Forum – the most significant Western Balkan conference on foreign policy and security we have co-organized for 11 consecutive years.

Quote:In its early days, the Internet was heralded as a champion for democracy, an opportunity for people to meet and exchange openly and to equally enjoy freedoms without government control.
The reality has been quite different. We now see increasing challenges to freedom and safety online.

Disinformation and cyberviolence threaten equal and safe access as individuals and groups find it difficult to be online without being harassed. More and more governments use surveillance technologies and internet shutdowns to either limit access to information or surveil their citizens; sometimes for legitimate reasons, other times not.

Recently, Europe has seen several large-scale cyber-attacks and instances of data theft.

What is being done to ensure the safety of networks and to ensure citizens’ security online?
What more could be done to protect the democratic space online and the rights to information, expression and privacy?
What should governments, the private sector, and civil society do to promote cybersecurity that advances human rights and supports democracy?