Online live storytelling event, bringing stories on surveillance and facial recognition from around the world

Mark the date:

• 25 March
• 18:00 – 19:30 CET
• Register here.

In a panopticon, prisoners never know whether or not they are being watched. With modern surveillance systems, everyday life feels very similar.

Coda Live: Panopticon is an online live storytelling event, which brings together stories on surveillance and facial recognition from around the world. The event will talk about how this technology is used in China, Russia and Europe.

Starting from Xinjiang, where the Chinese government watches over the Uyghur population, to Russia, where dozens of people were arrested in the underground and in their own homes, following protests in support of an opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

In Europe, the focus will be on the story of a man who has been on a quest to get his face back from an AI company.

Art-activists from Moscow will conduct a live tutorial on how to use makeup to trick facial recognition systems.

People who have personally been affected will tell their stories and Coda journalists will bring them to life with art, music and conversation. The event will feature a moderated discussion with people from all over the world who’ve lived under surveillance.

The event will be hosted by Coda journalists Isobel Cockerell and Alexandra Tyan. The event will welcome the following guests (more TBC):

• George Malets, journalist and photographer from Moscow, Russia
• Kamil Galeev, historian from Moscow, Russia
• Matthias Marx, member of the Chaos Computer Club association of hackers from Germany
• Ekaterina Schulmann, political scientist from. Moscow, Russia
• Dasha and Dana, activists of the “Follow” project from Moscow, Russia
• Ricardo Colluccini, journalist writing on surveillance, from Italy
• Corina Petridi, freelance journalist working in Greece and abroad

For more information see here.