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The freedom to connect

The right to speak freely without censorship or fear of persecution has always been a major struggle throughout history. As communication and commerce takes place online, internet freedom becomes even more important. How can activists be protected? What is the role of technology companies when it comes to privacy and censorship? What is your role in in promoting internet freedom?
Speakers: Mong Palatino, Brett Solomon
Moderator: Angelina Trang Huỳnh

Mong Palatino
Mong Palatino is an activist, blogger, and a two termer member of the Philippine House of Representatives. He is the country’s first blogger turned legislator and the only youth representative in the legislative body. As student leader, he chaired the National Union of Students in the Philippines in 2001. He was named “Outstanding Youth Leader for Advocacy on National Concerns” by the United Nations Associa- tion of the Philippines in 2004. He was one of the founders of the Kabataan (Youth) Partylist which became one of the strongest youth political parties in the Philippines. He was former news editor of, a leading local web portal (2005-08) and was a columnist for for two years (2007-09). He is currently the regional editor for Southeast Asia for Global Voices Online, a pioneering social media platform. He also writes a political column for the ASEAN Beat of The Diplomat.

Brett Solomon
Brett Solomon is the co-founder and executive director of Access, a nonprofit hu- man rights organization. The mission of Access is to ensure open global Internet access and an uncensored and secure digital sphere. It seeks to create a world where citizens can be active participants in their future by freely exchanging infor- mation digitally. Prior to Access, he was the campaign director at the 6.5 million- member, and before that the first executive director of GetUp! (getup., an Australian grassroots political organization. He founded the Interna- tional Youth Parliament and worked for many years at both Oxfam Australia and Amnesty International Australia. Solomon completed a bachelor of law at the Uni- versity of Sydney and a master’s degree in international law at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Angelina Trang Huỳnh
Angelina Trang Huynh is a co-founder and editor-in-chief for www.nofirewall.blogs-, a digital security and circumvention portal for Vietnamese internet users. Within months of the launch, No Firewall blog attracted over 100,000 hits, with the majority of traffic from Vietnam. Trang works with Viet Tan’s technical team to advise bloggers on digital security issues. Trang holds a Masters degree in Economics and Business Administration. She is a long-time member of Viet Tan, a pro-democracy party, promoting democratic change in Vietnam through peace- ful means. Trang directs Viet Tan’s efforts to promote Internet Freedom through training of digital activists, dissemination of circumvention tools, and international advocacy. She has successfully lead the lobbying for a US Congressional resolu- tion (H.Res.672) supporting Internet Freedom in Vietnam. Trang also works with international NGOs to translate and localize circumvention tools to fit the needs of Vietnamese netizens.