Call for Sessions #FNF25

Posted on 5 Aug 2025 by Konstantin

Meet activists from many different EU countries at Freedom not Fear! 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 FNF25 – some of the best sessions emerge spontaneously from conversations during a break or the networking evening, but if you already have an idea, we encourage you to pre-register your session to facilitate planning.

Session proposal form: https://freedomnotfear.org/cfs

Sessions are 50 minutes. There will be a dedicated timeslot for lightning talks (5 minutes each) or short sessions (30 minutes) as well.

Types of sessions in past years 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 organiser(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, map shared knowledge and ideas, find 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)

These are just some ideas for formats, but don’t let these confine your creativity!

We are looking forward to your sessions at #FNF25!

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Call for Registrations #FNF25

Posted on 17 Jul 2025 by Konstantin

Freedom not Fear 2025 – Registration open!

Please join us for 2025’s edition of Freedom not Fear, 26–29 September 2025 in Brussels and register now!

Registration

As places are limited, please register as soon as possible but in any case by 11 August 2025.
Click here for the registration form.

We will publish additional participant information in a separate blogpost and update it over time. Don’t hesitate to 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. For those of you who wish to participate in the visit of the European Parliament, we will need to collect additional information. If you indicated interest during the registrations and we can allocate you a spot, we will reach out to you via e-mail.

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, 29 September, and the Parlamentarium. In case this is relevant for your travel arrangements: This EP visit program concludes by 2pm on Monday but participants can choose to stay there longer or to schedule advocacy meetings with policy-makers in the afternoon.

If you have trouble taking part due to financial restrictions, please let us know in the registration form and we will try to find a solution. We have some limited capacity for 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.

Spread the word

More details on the schedule and programme for FNF 2025 are going to be published ahead of the conference. Also watch the Fediverse for #fnf25 and #FreedomNotFear or follow our Mastodon account at @fnf@eupolicy.social – and help spread the word!

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Call for Co-Organisers for #FNF25

Posted on 3 Jul 2025 by Konstantin

Dear friends of privacy & data protection and anyone interested in digital rights. The Freedom Not Fear 2025 team is looking for additional co-organisers. Together we want to prepare the annual self-organised conference on digital rights and data protection. #FNF25 will take place on 26–29 September 2025 in Brussels (Friday–Monday) but preparations started way before that.

At Freedom Not Fear (FNF), people from across Europe and beyond come together to advocate for freedom in the digitalized world, plan actions against attacks on civil liberties and increasing surveillance, and seek discussions with decision-makers.

If you want to make Freedom Not Fear 2025 happen, please join us. You can participate in the organising efforts and online meetings remotely. But if you are based in Brussels and/or have some speak French/Dutch, this is especially helpful as many of us are from other (European) countries.

Freedom Not Fear is a community that co-creates the conference and actions. As co-organisers we try to do the relevant preparations and outreach to make this possible. Things we do include:

  • Regular meetings of the whole team (at the time of writing: bi-weekly)
  • Sub-groups on specific topics, such as logistics for the conference venue, preparing a programme structure and inviting people to contribute their ideas, reaching out to policy-makers at EU institutions to engage with them on the weekend or on our ‘advocacy Monday’, fundraising, communications, awareness, event / organising tech, session documentation and much more.
  • We try to enable the participation of people from civil society organisations and other activists even if they don’t have their own budget available.
  • Try to create a space that is as safe and diverse as possible, acknowledging that we continuously need to learn and improve.
  • Your idea! Every person can bring their own ideas and experiences to the group and together we try to make it work if it fits with Freedom Not Fear.

If you would like to shape the event, please don’t hesitate to get in touch: details can be found here on how to contact us via e-mail, where to find our social media account in the Fediverse and about the international mailing list. At the moment our meetings take place online, bi-weekly on Wednesdays from 8pm (CEST).

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Freedom Not Fear 2025: 26–29 September in Brussels

Posted on 12 Feb 2025 by Sebastian

Mark your calendars for Freedom Not Fear 2025!

The annual self-organized conference on digital rights and data protection will take place

on 26–29 September 2025 (Friday–Monday).

At Freedom Not Fear, people from across Europe and beyond come together to advocate for freedom in the digitalized world, plan actions against attacks on civil liberties and increasing surveillance, and seek discussions with decision-makers.

The date has been set and volunteers have started preparing the event. We are working to find the location and sort out funding. Also, we’re looking for more volunteers to help us organize the event. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, 19 February, at 20:00 CET. If you would like to help and join this or any later meeting, or if you have any suggestions, please get in touch!

Stay tuned and watch this space for the latest news: https://freedomnotfear.org/

We look forward to seeing you in September!

PS: If you plan to attend Freedom Not Fear, you might want to stay on 1–2 days to also attend Privacy Camp 2025, which is organized by European Digital Rights (EDRi) and others. This will take place on 30 September, the day after Freedom Not Fear closes.

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