Freedom not Fear is a self-organised conference, a barcamp or if you will an “un-conference”. That means participants decide on the programme during morning plenaries on the spot – so naturally there is no fixed programme yet. Every year a organising team still prepares a stucture within which FNF can take place. We also ask participants to already indicate sessions they know they intend to convene, so that we can offer a preview. These should in no way be seen as limiting possibilities, but instead inspire you to bring your own topics and session ideas to #FNF24!

We are also happy to confirm Ella Jakubowska, head of policy at EDRi (European Digital Rights), as keynote speaker for the opening!
Most of the barcamp will happen at the Mundo Matongé. The location of the organised networking dinner will be announced at a later point.

So first, here is a rough schedule (times are listed as CET):
Friday, Nov 8

• 18:00: Welcome desk opens
• 19:00: Opening and keynote, followed by self-organised networking evening

Saturday, Nov 9

• 9:00: Welcome desk opens
• 9:30: Opening plenary
• Throughout the day: sessions
• 18:00: Evening plenary
• from 19:00: moving to organised networking dinner

Sunday, Nov 10

• 9:30: welcome desk opens
• 10:00: Morning plenary
• Throughout the day: sessions
• 16:30: Closing plenary

Monday, Nov 11
The programme here slightly varies, depending on whether you are part of an organised European Parliament visit. We always encourage participants to schedule self-organised meetings with policy-makers, such as MEPs or the European Commission, to advocate regarding the (digital rights) policy topics they bring to Freedom Not Fear.
If you are part of the organised European Parliament visit, please be there by 9:00.

Participants will receive a more detailed schedule ahead of and during FNF24.

Programme preview
We already received very interesting session proposals, which we want to share with you:

• Chat control: Explaining to (non-technical) people why it is a bad idea
• Privacy and AI Harms: Why It’s Time For Citizens To Take Their Power Back
• Let’s network and discuss: Effective activism against online tracking
• Our rights are not for sale: Discussion on pay or okay
• Civil Society’s engagement in AI Regulatory Sandboxes
• First-Aid Logistics Softwares
• Watched but not watching? Learning from chilling surveillance measures.
• A federation of free hosters collectives: the CHATONS movement
• Privacy-oriented fintech and public trust
• AI Act Implementation across Europe
• Pushing Back Against Mandatory Age Verification
• Inside the EP – How to work the European Parliament
• EHDS – it is not over
• Smartphones and data privacy (Exodus privacy)
• Tech based violence and the new EU directive on violence against women

Feel free to think about how to bring your topic(s) to FNF24 and to give us a heads-up about sessions you want to convene during Freedom Not Fear 2024. We look forward to see you in Brussels November 8–11!

This guide is written for people who participate in Freedom Not Fear (2024), intend to organise a session during the weekend and then discuss with policy makers about their topic on Monday. But hopefully it is also helpful for other occasions.

Step 0: Become a digital rights advocate

Participate in Freedom not Fear and decide that you want to advocate for digital rights. Congratulations!

Step 1: Identify the type of policy maker you want to engage with

Consider the specific topic you want to speak about and then decide who might be the appropriate person in which institution for your topic. The rest of this guide is written for contacting Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), but parts of it are also applicable to other institutions. Please DO consider policy makers from other institutions, such as the European Commission (and its relevant Directorates General), the permanent representations of the member states or other specialised institutions of the EU.

Step 2: Identify the specific policy maker relevant for your topic

There are a lot of MEPs in the European Parliament (EP) and most likely not all of them are equally relevant for your topic. Most work in the EP is done in the committees. For example if you are concerned about a surveillance related issue, it is most likely that the work on it is happening within LIBE (civil liberties) or IMCO (internal market). However, there are exceptions.
So ask yourself:

• Do you want to advocate about a specific file that already exists? Then consider the rapporteur (lead MEP in charge of organising the work on the file), the shadow rapporteurs (MEPs from the other groups organising the work on the file) and MEPs from the committee(s) working on the file. In some cases you may also want to raise awareness about a file with MEPs that do not usually work on this issue. (e.g. if the work in the committee is done and it will be voted on by all MEPs in the plenary soon)
• Do you want to advocate about a specific policy, that does not yet have a file? Then consider which committees would reasonably be in charge of the topic and which MEPs might have an interest or a connection you could build on (e.g. MEPs who worked on similar topics in the past or who are from your region). Also consider a meeting with someone from the relevant directorate general (DG) of the European Commission (EC): the EC is the only institution that can initiate the process for proposing new laws in the EU. However, MEPs can amend an existing proposal and include new aspects that are reasonably within the scope of the file.
• Do you want to raise awareness about a topic? As with the other points, consider MEPs, the European Commission or representatives from other specialised institutions that may be(come) relevant for you. Also think about what specifically you want from the policy maker: it is nice to have a chat, but presumably you actually want the policy maker to do something. So already consider what the concrete takeaway of the meeting should be.

If you are not only interested in speaking with one specific person only, consider starting a spreadsheet to track the relevant information and your progress with them.

Step 3: Reaching out

Be mindful that policymakers tend to be busy people with full schedules. The earlier you reach out to them, the more likely it is to get a slot in their schedule. Also note that they get a lot of requests for meetings and for that reason alone you might get rejected.
If you get rejected, then it is also possible to ask for a meeting with one of the assistants of the MEP. They may also offer you a meeting with one of the assistants instead of the MEP directly. This is not a bad thing, but a great opportunity. A lot of important policy work is done by the parliamentary assistants / advisors.

Consult the full list of MEPs to get the contact details of them and their assistants.

When you write your first e-mail, you address the MEP directly even though it will probably be their team who handle the e-mail inbox. Explain who you are, what organisation you are part of (if any) and why you want to talk to the MEP and how the topic at hand is relevant to the MEP. If you are a citizen of the country from where the MEP is from, say so.

Keep the e-mail relatively short and try to make it clear that this is not a mass-e-mail but something that is tailored to that MEP. Provide specific dates for a potential meeting.

Step 3b: Follow-up

If you do not get a reply after 7 days, consider making a phone call to the office or send a follow-up e-mail.

Phone calls are more effective than e-mail for getting appointments when you follow-up.

Step 3c: Spontaneous meeting

If you did not manage to schedule a meeting with a specific MEP, you can still try to contact them when you are in Brussels. Some MEPs will be happy to meet you spontaneously, because sometimes other obligations get cancelled and their calender is unlikely to be filled with other additional unforeseen appointments and they know that they have time to meet you. However, you should not do this if an MEP has already responded that they do not have time at the requested date and be conscious that it is more likely than not that MEPs will not have time on a short notice, so it is always best to ask early.

Step 4: Confirmed? Arrange meeting details

Once you have secured a meeting, make sure you agree on the specific time and place to meet. It is easiest to ask for their preference.
If the place is inside the European Parliament, then you need to take care of getting in. If you are reading this guide you are probably not registered as a lobbyist, which would give you access to the Parliament building on your own. In that case, you will likely need the MEP(‘s staff) to sign you into the building (which means that you will get accreditation for a one-time entry). MEP staff, likely the APA (= accredited parliamentary assistant), are used to doing that for people who request meetings and can help you. Make sure you have your ID with you, which you will need to show at the entrance / security gate.
If they propose a place that is outside the European Parliament, it is likely one of the Cafés nearby. This is a common practice.
Either way you may want to check the photos in the staff/team section of the MEP’s website, so that you recognise them.

For the sake of Freedom Not Fear, you might want to find allies in a session to take to the meeting with you, even if you don’t yet know who they will be at the time of scheduling the meeting. If you are planning to bring other persons to the meeting, make sure you point that out to the MEP / their staff as early as possible. With a small group of persons (e.g. 2 or 3) it is still possible to have a meaningful and effective meeting. However, the more persons you are, the more complicated it becomes.

Step 5: The meeting

Know what you want to convey in the meeting so that you can use the time effectively. Make sure you are punctual. Prepare an agenda for yourself and try to plan realistically, how to manage the time you have. If you invited other activists from FNF to join the meeting, agree beforehand about a sequence and who wants to talk about which aspects. However, you will still need to be flexible and adapt based on the interests and conversational style of the policymaker you meet.

Try not to use too much jargon, but explain in a clear way, what the topic is, what you want and why it matters. If the MEP or their advisor is working on a file already, they are more likely to be familiar with details of the topic than if you are trying to convince them, why your topic matters. Either way, try to convey why the point you are making is important to them. E.g. build on previous statements and positions of the MEP, surveys that show popular support for your position (they usually want to be re-elected after all) or information that you think would be relevant for them.

Remember to ALWAYS stick to the truth and remain polite. Credibility matters and it is better to say that you don’t know something, than to make something up. You don’t need to know every statistic by heart. Offer to send follow-up information about details the MEP was interested in.

If you have any factsheets or leaflets that contain the most important take-home messages, remember to give them to the MEP at the end. But be aware that they receive a lot of unsolicited information. Keep it as brief as possible. Many prefer to have relevant resources sent by e-mail later.

Step 5b: Debrief

Make sure you note down any details that are important for a follow-up later, such as which statistics they wanted you to send to them afterwards. If you had other activists join you, make a debriefing after the MEP is gone. Talk about what went well and what didn’t. Try to discuss what to do better/differently next time and be kind to each other. Everyone has different levels of experience and we might also have different styles in which we want to do meetings. Remember there is a learning curve for everyone.

Step 6: Follow-up

Send a thank-you note via e-mail and provide any resources or information that you promised during the meeting. If possible use web links instead of large attachments if you are sending a report.

Further resources

EDRi has a detailed guide on EU advocacy.

Meet activists from many different EU countries at the FNF 2024 barcamp! We want to share our experiences and ideas, inspire each other and discuss how to achieve a more just and sustainable digital Europe. The barcamp is driven by the people who attend it. It is possible and encouraged to propose a session at FNF24 – some of the best sessions emerge spontaneously from conversations during a break or networking evening, but if you already have an idea we encourage you to preregister your session with us, because this makes planning easier for us and you can request a specific day if you are not able to join the whole weekend.

Preregistrations were open until the 28th of October, but you can still use the form and indicate your planned session and tech-needs on site. We will occasionally review the form. If you have urgent questions get in touch by e-mail!

There are different types of sessions. Pick one that suits you best at
https://freedomnotfear.org/cfs

Update: Sessions are 50 minutes long. There will be a dedicated timeslot for lightning-talks (5 minutes each) or short sessions (30 minutes) again.
Sessions are typically 1 hour long. However, if there is interest, we will offer a dedicated timeslot for lighting-talks/short presentations again. If you want to do something shorter, please indicate it in the linked session proposal form above.

Examples of sessions in the past included:

• Presenting information: Speaker(s) present a topic to raise awareness and call for action. At some point the session shifts from presentation to Q&A and discussion. (e.g. presentation on ongoing or upcoming legislation in the EU, how it could affect digital rights and what to do about it)
• Workshop: Session convener(s) present a questions / digital rights issue and facilitate an interactive discussion among participants. (e.g. brainstorm on how to engage specific stakeholders on a topic, mapping shared knowledge an ideas, finding ways to mobilise and take action, identify gaps and needs for dealing with an issue)
• Action: Session convener(s) with a specific topic / idea / strategy looking for allies to take action together. Such a session could focus on a skill-share to empower other participants to replicate the idea, collaborate to fine-tune details of the action or discuss how to adapt it to the different wider social contexts that the different activists are situated in. (e.g. prepare coordinated social media action and postings, draft freedom of information requests and map targets, contact different relevant data protection authorities)

We are looking forward to your sessions at FNF 2024!

From 8 to 11 November 2024, Freedom not Fear, a self-organised conference on privacy and digital rights, will take place in Brussels.

We invite people from all across Europe to meet and work towards more freedom in the digitalised world, plan actions against increasing surveillance and against other attacks on civil rights.

Freedom not Fear 2024
8–11 November (Friday–Monday)
Mundo Matonge (Sat&Sun) • European Parliament (Mon)

Do you have a question that is not answered here? Please let us know at contact@freedomnotfear.org

1  Participation – How can I sign up?

The FNF (un)conference on Friday, Saturday and Sunday is open for everyone. Signing up is not mandatory. That might be different for EP visits on Monday. We would appreciate it if you could still sign up with this form to help us plan capacities. In the sign-up form you can also indicate if you’d be interested in a possible EP visit on Monday, travel support or free accommodation.

2  Registration & Expenses

We are not asking for a registration fee, but we do ask for voluntary donations to cover expenses such as venue hire and faciliation, also to support others who can’t afford an expensive trip. During the event we will kindly request your donation for lunches and our networking dinner on Saturday evening as well as donations to support organisational expenses.
Please bring cash!

3  Travel & Reimbursement

We encourage travelling by train rather than plane.

When planning your departure, please keep in mind that there might be meetings scheduled on Monday afternoon with MEPs and other policy makers until about 15:00.

We’re trying to facilitate financial support for travel costs. Thanks to MEP invitations and a small grant we secured and donations from some generous individuals, we can likely offer some financial support for travel expenses to those who wouldn’t be able to (completely) cover their travel expenses themselves. Make sure to always keep receipts and tickets, we might need them for reporting.

If you need financial support, please indicate this in the sign-up form and submit before 30 September.

See below at “Official EP visit & meeting with MEPs” for more information.

4  Accommodation

We are not organising hotel accomodation this year and we ask participants to make their own arrangements. We do encourage couchsurfing and try to facilitate contacts among participants who can offer or seek a place to stay.
If you are looking for hotel recommendations, this is where we were in the last years:
Hotel Adagio Access Brussels Europe, 12 rue de l’Industrie, Brussels (OpenStreetMap)

5  Catering / Food

On Saturday evening, 9 November 2024, from 19:00, we will organise the famous FNF networking dinner again at social space DK. The food will be prepared by a group of volunteers and will cost us a contribution of 12 € (or more). Please register to take part in the dinner (or send a mail to: contact@freedomnotfear.org if you do not want to register)
Please bring cash to pay for the dinner

6  Official EP visit & meeting with MEPs

We plan to organise an visit to the European Parliament at the invitation of MEPs, as we have done in the past. EU Citizens may receive a travel reimbursement for participating in this EP visit.

However, we cannot guarantee enough spots for all participants at this point. If you want to be part of the visit, please make sure to indicate so in the registration form (deadline: 30 September).

We will review all registrations at the end of the sign-up period and allocate the available spots. Once you have been confirmed for the EP visit, participation is mandatory and comes along with some financial support for travel and accommodation. This will also require an official registration with your official ID and valid documents brought for the EP visit.

7  Self-organised MEP & policy-maker meetings

The European Union is changing. We feel it is more important than ever to share our ideas and concerns, network and develop strategies for digital rights advocacy.

We strongly encourage everyone to schedule meetings with policy-makers ahead of time, so that you can discuss with them the topics and sessions you brought to FNF. We are preparing a guide to help you with that. This is to be published here soon.

You can help others in getting in touch with policy makers? Please offer a session, prepare MEP meetings together and take others along!

8  Schedule

The rough schedule is:

• Friday, 8 November 2024, 18:00: opening by welcome team
• Saturday and Sunday, 9 & 10 November 2024, all day: your sessions
• Saturday night: joint dinner and evening programme
• Monday, 11 November 2024: self-organised meetings with MEPs, Commission staff and other EU policy-makers

9  Programme

FNF follows a barcamp format where the programme is being created on the spot by participants’ contributions.

We invite everyone to submit session proposals with this form before 25 October 2024: https://freedomnotfear.org/cfs

This helps us to create a first rough schedule, prevent conflicting schedules in case someone can attend FNF only at a specific time slot or bring people together who want to hold sessions on the same topic. A preliminary programme will be compiled and more sessions will be added spontaneously at the event during the morning plenary.

10  Language

The main language of communication and workshops will be English. However, it is possible to also offer workshops or sessions in other languages. If someone is not comfortable communicating in English at the event, please support each other with translations.

11  Awareness

At the event we ask everyone to be conscious of your own behaviour and respect needs for distance or other safety measures of people around you. We are aiming to have an awareness team. If that is an issue you are knowledgeable about or interested to contribute to, please let us know: contact@freedomnotfear.org

12  Stay informed

To stay informed about FNF-related developments and meet other participants & friends, sign up to the mailing list: https://listen.akvorrat.org/mailman/listinfo/akv-international

Historically, Freedom not Fear was founded by people from the German working group against data rention (AKVorrat) in 2006. The title “Freedom not Fear” is used by AKVorrat and like-minded groups for a series of activities related to human rights internationally. There have been events of all kind supporting human rights called “Freedom not Fear” from places all over the globe, including South America, the United States, Canada and Europe. The Brussels Freedom not Fear started as one such activity. During the first Brussels Freedom not Fear in 2011, it was decided to use “AKV-international” as the official mailing list for FNF instead of starting a new mailing list. Today this list is exclusively used by Freedom not Fear.

13  Donations

Since FNF has no official organisational structure, we need to collect donations via some other legal entity. This year, the non-profit association D64 – Center for Digital Progress from Germany is providing an account for donations – our heartfelt thanks for that!

Donations to the D64 account will reach us without any deduction. Please mark your donations clearly by stating “FNF” or “Freedom Not Fear” in the reference.

Bank details:
Recipient: D64 – Zentrum für Digitalen Fortschritt
IBAN: DE13 4306 0967 1134 4765 00
BIC: GENODEM1GLS
Bank: GLS Bank
Reference: FNF / Donation

https://freedomnotfear.org/2024/call-for-donations

14  How is FNF organised?

Freedom not Fear is traditionally organised by a group of committed volunteers with support from last year’s organisers and administrative support from some official body.
The organising team is newly set up every year and starts preparing the event around February. Looking for an adequate venue and accommodation, contacting MEPs and dealing with a lot of EP administration and communication is part of the tasks as well as calculating a budget, looking for donations and funding, writing texts, setting up forms, advertising the event and communicating with participants. Interested to join the organising team or donate for the event? E-mail us at contact@freedomnotfear.org.

This year the event is organised purely by volunteers with the help of German-based non-profit association D64 – Center for Digital Progress from Germany hosting our finances and supporting funding efforts. Therefore the event will be much more self-organised, we are not booking hotel accommodation nor professional lunch catering. However, if anyone has capacity to organise some lunch for Saturday and Sunday, and someone to organise some couch surfing / sleeping places in Brussels, you’re warmly welcome, please get in touch!

Please join us for 2024’s edition of Freedom not Fear, 8–11 November 2024 in Brussels and register now!

Update: registration was closed and we will contact you soon!

Registration

As places are limited, please register as soon as possible but in any case by 30 September 2024.
Click here for the registration form.

We have collected additional participant information in a separate blogpost. Get in touch if you have further questions.

EP visit and reimbursement

As part of Freedom not Fear we will try to organise a visit with MEPs in the European Parliament. European Union citizens who participate in FNF and in this visit are eligible for travel reimbursement and a fixed allowance thanks to visitor quotas of the MEPs who support us.

Registration for the FNF events from Friday to Sunday is not compulsory. However, in order to take part in the EP visit on Monday and to receive any allowances you must register. The European Parliament travel reimbursement is linked to an official visit to the European Parliament on Monday morning, 11 November, and the Parlametarium or House Of European History (to be determined).

If you have trouble taking part due to financial restrictions, please get in touch with us and we will try to find a solution. Thanks to a small grant we secured and donations from some generous individuals, we can likely offer some financial support for travel expenses to those who wouldn’t be able to (completely) cover their travel expenses themselves or who are not eligible for the EP visit.

Donations

Freedom not Fear is dependent on individual donations to cover expenses such as venue, facilitation, infrastructure, and to make the event affordable to participants from all backgrounds and all parts of Europe. Your donation would be highly appreciated!

More information and how to donate: https://freedomnotfear.org/2024/call-for-donations

Spread the word

More details on the schedule and programme for FNF 2024 are going to be published ahead of the conference. Also watch the Fediverse for #fnf24 and #FreedomNotFear or follow our Mastodon account at @fnf@eupolicy.social – and help spread the word!

Let’s make FNF 2024 happen!

Since FNF has no official organisational structure, we need to collect donations via some other legal entity. This year, the non-profit association D64 – Center for Digital Progress from Germany is  providing an account for donations – our heartfelt thanks for that!

Donations to the D64 account will reach us without any deduction. Please mark your donations clearly by stating “FNF” or “Freedom Not Fear” in the reference.

We will soon publish more details, but if you want to make sure FNF 2024 is happening and help us find a venue, you can donate now.

Bank details:

Please always mark your donations as “FNF” or “Freedom not Fear”!

QR-Code with details for bank transfers

You can scan the QR code on the right with your online banking app and add
your desired amount. The code contains the bank details as shown above.

An update on the planning process will follow soon.

Thank you for supporting Freedom not Fear 2024!

A big “thank you!” to all participants and supporters for making possible yet another fantastic event!

We are inviting all participants to bring their expertise, interests and questions into Freedom not Fear 2023 as session proposals. The programme of FNF is created by all participants together on the spot.

Need inspiration?
Your session could be connected to the following topics, but of course you are not limited to these:

• Tech buzz or game changer: “AI” and how do we deal with it?
• Climate crisis: tech(ies) as problem, solution or what?
• Public and private surveillance: who is watching whom?

All workshops and talks (Fri – Sun) will take place at:
Mundo Madou
Avenue des Arts 7-8
1210 Brussels

An important part of Freedom not Fear (FNF) is “advocacy monday”. We want to meet with Members of European Parliament (MEPs) or Commission and other policy makers and talk to them. Feel free to contact MEPs to invite them to Freedom not Fear for presenting their topic, to discuss with us or to arrange meetings with them outside of Freedom not Fear.

Rough schedule

There is no pre-set programme at Freedom not Fear – only time-slots to be filled with content. The programme will be made by you, the participants, during the actual event.

This is the rough schedule for the event:

Friday, 1 Sep 2023

18:00: Welcome desk opens

19:00: Opening of Freedom not Fear 2023

European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) Wojciech Wiewiórowski will give a brief input on “Fediverse for Public Administration. Why we try and why we fail” followed by a fishbowl discussion.

Saturday 2 Sep 2023, 9:30 – 19:00h

Morning plenary (We invite you to submit your sessions during the morning plenary.) Sessions during the day. Saturday night: joint dinner and evening programme

Sunday 3 Sep 2023, 10:00 – 19:00h

Morning plenary. Sessions during the day.

Monday, 4 Sep 2023

9:30–11:00 & 13:00-14:00: visit to the European parliament (EP) and meeting with MEPs, visit to the Parlamentarium.
After 14:00: (self-) arranged meetings with MEPs, European Commissioners and other EU policy makers

Support the organisiation of fnf

Freedom not Fear is dependent on individual donations to cover expenses such as venue, facilitation, infrastructure, and to make the event affordable to participants from all backgrounds and all parts of Europe. Your donation would be highly appreciated here: https://digitalcourage.de/donate
(Enter “FNF 2023” in the “Message” at the end of the form to direct the donation towards FNF.)

If you have any questions you can always contact us at: contact@freedomnotfear.org

Please join us for the 2023 edition of Freedom not Fear, 1–4 September 2023 in Brussels and register now!

Please note: The registration is closed as there are no more slots from our visitor quota left that could receive a reimbursement.
Nevertheless it is still possible to participate in fnf in a selforganized way. You could book your own EP visit and/or request a meeting with an MEP on your own account.  If you do so, please inform us about your plans and expected participation.

More details on the schedule and programme for FnF 2023 are going to be published soon – also watch the Fediverse for #fnf23 and #freedomnotfear or follow us at fnf@digitalcourage.social – and help spread the word!

Find more information on the general event here: https://freedomnotfear.org/about-freedom-not-fear

Registration

As part of Freedom not Fear we will meet with MEPs in the European Parliament. Participants in this visit are eligible for travel reimbursement and a fixed allowance thanks to visitor quotas of the MEPs who support us.

Registration for the FnF events from Friday to Sunday is not compulsory. However, in order to take part in the EP visit on Monday and to receive any allowances you must register.

EP visit – mandatory for reimbursement

In order to receive travel reimbursement and the allowance, it is mandatory to take part in the official visit to the European Parliament on Monday, 4 September, 10:00–11:30 and the Parlametarium for another hour.

Accommodation

We have organised hotel accommodation close to the event venue and the EU facilities, as an option. Please state your accommodation preferences in the registration form.

Please register by 30.6.2023 →Final registration deadline: 17 July 2023

The available places are limited, please register as soon as possible but in any case before 17 July 2023.

You will find more information on the registration form.

If you have trouble taking part due to financial restrictions, please get in touch with us and we will try to find a solution.

Donations

Freedom not Fear is dependent on individual donations to cover expenses such as venue, facilitation, infrastructure, and to make the event affordable to participants from all backgrounds and all parts of Europe. Your donation would be highly appreciated!

https://digitalcourage.de/spenden

(Enter “FnF 2023” at “Nachrichten” at the end of the form to direct the donation towards FnF.)