The IFEX Strategy Conference was held in Beirut, Lebanon from June 1- 3, with more than 100 participants from around the world attending. The bi-event was organised by IFEX, a global network whose members support freedom of expression.

The meeting provoked many timely discussions relating to the issue of freedom of expression around the world. One session, entitled 'The Many Seasons of Arab Spring' included activists from Bahrain, Tunisia and Egypt who talked about restrictions to free expression during and after the political upheavals during the past months and the new challenges that now lay ahead in these countries.

Two members of Tactical Tech’s team attended the conference to create discussion and engage participants in thinking about online advocacy as well as the necessary awareness of digital security and privacy.

Gillo Cutrupi lead a workshop that looked at how advocates and organisations can identify their security risks, and considered simple ways to change online behaviour in order to make web and mobile use more secure. Copies of our Security-in-a-box toolkit were handed out in both Arabic and English.In addition to this workshop, Gillo took part in a 'marketplace' at the conference, where participants could come have one-on-one conversations about digital privacy and security.

ONO, the incredible info-bot, from our animation series about self-protection and privacy, Survival in the Digital Age animation series, made a special appearance with Gillo.

Ramsey George was also on hand and facilitated several workshops in Arabic and English on new tactics for online advocacy. Participants who attended these also took away copies of the film and workshop training kit we produced in 2009, 10 Tactics for Turning Information into Action.

Read a blogpost from Jillian C. York, from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, on one of these sessions.

Read more about the IFEX Conference on their blog