Civil Debates # 5: Freedom of Speech Online with The Theatre Centre

SpiderWebShow Performance and The Theatre Centre presented Civil Debates # 5: Freedom of Speech Online livestreamed from Toronto, Canada on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Monday 21 November at 7:30 p.m. EST (Montreal) / 6:30 p.m. CST (Winnipeg) / 5:30 p.m. MST (Edmonton) / 4:30 p.m. PST (Vancouver) / Tuesday, November 22 at 00:30 GMT/UTC (London) / Tuesday, November 22 at 11:30 a.m. AEDT (Sydney). 

In Twitter, share your thoughts with #CivilDebates and follow @SpiderWebShow, @TheatreCentre, and @HowlRoundTV for updates about the livestream.

Online freedom of speech has become a hotbed issue in the digital, interactive era. What is harassment? How does that impact our Charter rights to freedom of speech? Are there limits? Should there be limits?

Join us online from The Theatre Centre, Toronto as we invite the community to an open public debate on the following resolution:

“Be it resolved that freedom of speech is absolute and therefore must be protected online.”

Debaters:

2016 Governor General Award nominated playwright Donna Michelle St. Bernard
2016 Siminovitch Prize Protégée and performance artist Shaista Latif
2016 Governor General Award nominated playwright Brad Fraser
Lawyer: Abby Deshman
Moderator: Sarah Garton Stanley, SpiderWebShow Artistic Director and English Theatre at The National Arts Centre Associate Artistic Director.

Attendees will be given an opportunity to weigh in on the resolution through a moderated Q&A that follows the debate, and through before and after polls that seek to discover if the debate impacts or further polarizes audience opinion on the resolution.

Civil Debates was launched in 2013 by Praxis Theatre and The Theatre Centre as a public forum for artists to gather and engage in conversation of current social/political events and topics. Civil Debates 5 is presented by SpiderWebShow Performance and The Theatre Centre. Previous Debate topics were: 1 Creative Cities, 2 Arts Boards, 3 Idle No More, and 4 Ethical Funding.

About HowlRound TV

HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based peer produced, open access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world's performing arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and to develop our knowledge commons collectively. Participate in a community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us. Learn more by going to our participate page. For any other queries, email [email protected], or call Vijay Mathew at +1 917.686.3185 Signal/WhatsApp. View the video archive of past events.