[NCUC-DISCUSS] Facebook as an obligatory requirement for being ICANN60 fellow

thomascovenant thomascovenant at thomascovenant.org
Thu Jul 27 22:21:42 CEST 2017


Hi Michael,

emails below have been sent publicly to all prospective fellows,
starting with the last response.

Following the last email, I have replied privately and off the fellow
list, as requested, elaborating on
the points I made earlier.

I understand this issue has been a concern from some participants
earlier, and this could be a good
time to address it on general level with the appropriate procedure
within ICANN.
I also see it as potentially relevant to several fellows of ICANN60.

Best regards,
Dina Solveig Jalkanen

-- 
* * *
Friendly geek in Amsterdam, FSFE Fellow
https://wiki.techinc.nl/index.php/User:Thomascovenant

Dear Dina,

Thank you for your note.

First of all, this is one of the requirements of the Program. The
Facebook group is a closed group where ONLY selected Fellows for that
particular group and their Coaches are part of. This is the tool, which
proved to be successful for interaction before and during the Meeting.
We had cases when people were not in Facebook, but signed up with
different names (let me know) and I approved them to be only in this
group, get to know people, learn and if they decide post meeting to
delete their account, it’s up to them (though we also have general
closed group for all Alumni).

We have now more than 600 Alumni and it’s never became an issue for anyone.

I would recommend you also to refrain sending group e-mail, and making
spam for everybody, but sending me only OFFLIST and express your concern
and we would find a solution for you.

Last but not least, If you accept Terms and Conditions of the Program,
you accept all of them. Looking forward hearing from you OFFLIST and via
the e-mail, mentioned in your letter either you accept this Fellowship
or no within the mentioned deadline.

Thank you

Siranush


Siranush Vardanyan
Fellowship Program Manager
Public Responsibility Support, ICANN
Mobile: +374 94 947773
E-mail:  siranush.vardanyan at icann.org

Skype ID: siranush.vardanyan

Hello,

I respectfully disagree with making Facebook obligatory for ICANN Fellowship program participation. Would it be possible for you to reconsider this decision?

There should be no forcing all Fellowship participants to have interactions through Facebook, opening a new page and making accepting fellowship dependent on it:

http://www.salimvirani.com/facebook

https://stallman.org/facebook.html

"Last but not least: Social Media
I will be creating an ICANN60 Facebook page which is a required participation for this program as it is a way to engage in conversation with your peers, ask questions, receive information that is meant for everyone related to ICANN and IG happenings.  Those who do not have Facebook page, please, create one, as you will be asked to join ICANN60 Facebook page."

Best regards,

Dina Solveig Jalkanen,
grateful for technical fellowship to ICANN60

****
Friendly geek in Amsterdam, FSFE Fellow
https://wiki.techinc.nl/index.php/User:Thomascovenant

 
Hello everyone,

IT IS CRITICAL FOR YOU TO READ THE ENTIRE EMAIL AND ATTACHED CONFIRMATION LETTER TO KNOW PRIORITY INFORMATION and TIMING ESSENTIAL TO PROVIDE YOU THIS FELLOWSHIP SUPPORT.

Congratulations for being selected to represent Fellowship Program at ICANN60. Your names are now posted on the ICANN Fellowship Page - https://www.icann.org/fellowshipprogram

To all of the new names and faces, hello and welcome to the ICANN Fellowship Program! This will be a great opportunity for you to gain understanding of ICANN, its work and how you can be a part of shaping the Internet for future generations.

There are several in this group who have attended an ICANN meeting in the past but never as a fellow. I do hope that you will appreciate the difference and support that this program has to offer and look forward to your feedback at the end of the ICANN week.

For those of who have never attended an ICANN meeting…get some good sleep the week before as you won¹t be getting much at the meeting 

Fellowship Alumni, I look forward to seeing each and every one of you again! You were selected by the committee based on your experience, continued engagement and participation in ICANN and other entities within the Global Internet Ecosystem since your previous fellowship. Your selection comes with the understanding that you will use this additional opportunity to better understand your place in the ICANN community, as well provide mentorship to new fellows, supporting other ICANN Meeting Newcomers in Abu Dhabi as well as signing up for slots at the ICANN Information Booth. Speaking of Booth, you will see our good friend, Fellowship Alumni Zakir Syed from Pakistan on this list, not as a selected Fellow but as one of the Leads for the ICANN Information Booth. The second person to co-lead the ICANN Information Booth will be announced soon. Later down the road, they will be organizing the Alumni for these slots during the Meeting week. Please, note that ONLY Alumni of this program will be asked to volunteer for the Information Booth, newcomers are there for learning and will be given this opportunity once you already become an Alumni.

Each newcomer to Fellowship and some of our returning alumni will be assigned to an Alumni Coach or Community Mentor for guidance and support leading up to the Meeting.

Everyone: please carefully read the attached confirmation letter, and respond as directed in that letter by 31 of July 2017 15:00 UTC in order to confirm your attendance at the ICANN60 Meeting.

Make sure that you do ”copy/cc” your direct supervisor, employer etc. on your confirmation response email, as mentioned in the attached letter. If you are self-employed, I do still need your confirmation.

Due to visa and transit visa challenges, it is extremely important that we finalize our group and begin building travel itineraries as quickly as possible. If your confirmation, with all required information included, is not received back within the time requested, you will receive notification that your candidacy has been withdrawn and a pre-selected alternate will be offered your spot. If you are having a challenge with this, simply email me back OFFLIST and we will try to work something out.

From this time forward, please keep an eye out in your inbox and “junk mail” for any emails from: fellowships at icann.org<mailto:fellowships at icann.org>, siranush.vardanyan at icann.org<mailto:siranush.vardanyan at icann.org>, constituency-travel at icann.org<mailto:constituency-travel at icann.org> and our ICANN Travel Support Provide FRM Solutions. It is the Travel team that you will be working most closely with these first few weeks to fill out travel forms and create documents to assist in obtaining your visa and / or finalising your travel – they will be contacting you in August.

Last but not least: Social Media
I will be creating an ICANN60 Facebook page which is a required participation for this program as it is a way to engage in conversation with your peers, ask questions, receive information that is meant for everyone related to ICANN and IG happenings.  Those who do not have Facebook page, please, create one, as you will be asked to join ICANN60 Facebook page.

We will be also creating an ICANN60 WhatsApp list in order to stay in touch before, during and after the Meeting. I will send additional information to those who are interested in joining ICANN60 Fellows Whatsapp group.

Looking forward hearing from you all and congratulations once again

Best,

Siranush



Siranush Vardanyan
Fellowship Program Manager
Public Responsibility Support, ICANN
Mobile: +374 94 947773
E-mail:  siranush.vardanyan at icann.org<mailto:siranush.vardanyan at icann.org>
Skype ID: siranush.vardanyan


On 27.07.2017 22:48, Michael Karanicolas wrote:
> Hi Dina,
>
> Thanks very much for bringing this to our attention. You raise a very
> interesting issue - and I agree, in principle, that signing up for
> Facebook should not be a required component of participating in an
> ICANN Fellowship program.
>
> Would you feel comfortable forwarding or screenshot-ing the email in
> its entirety, just so we can see the full context as a means of
> informing this discussion?
>
> In the interim, and while this discussion goes on, it may be useful if
> you wanted to raise your concerns directly with Siranush, if you
> haven't already. Your objection would seem to me to be a valid one, so
> it might be interesting to see how ICANN might respond.
>
> Best,
>
> Michael Karanicolas
>
> On Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 4:23 PM, thomascovenant
> <thomascovenant at thomascovenant.org> wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I am writing about a general matter that can still be quite important to
>> some.
>>
>> I respectfully disagree with making Facebook obligatory for ICANN
>> Fellowship program participation, yet it doesn't seem possible
>> to question this decision.
>>
>> Further, the decision to deny fellowship to those who do not comply with
>> Facebook demand makes no sense to me.
>>
>> I would welcome diverse participation of FOSS community, privacy
>> activists and ethical hacking communities in ICANN work. It can be very
>> valuable.
>>
>> I don't want any single fellow be forced to compromise their principles
>> in order to make volunteer contribution to ICANN work (please read the
>> links below).
>>
>> At the moment this is solved by forcing to register under a false name,
>> which is not the right thing to do on behalf of a large organization.
>>
>> Alternative means of communication should be easily available to those
>> who ask for them, minor detail of communication platform should not be
>> the reason to discourage volunteer work.
>>
>> We also have Chinese and Iranian fellows. Some countries impose FB
>> cencorship (wiki link below), which can also be an issue...
>>
>> What are your thoughts on this general subject? And how a good solution
>> can be found?
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Dina Solveig Jalkanen,
>> grateful for technical fellowship to ICANN60
>>
>> Resources:
>>
>> FB Censorship: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_Facebook
>> Some information about Facebook from Richard Stallman:
>> https://stallman.org/facebook.htm
>> http://www.salimvirani.com/facebook
>>
>> From public Fellowship emails by Siranush Vardanyan
>> Fellowship Program Manager, Public Responsibility Support, ICANN:
>>
>> "Last but not least: Social Media I will be creating an ICANN60 Facebook
>> page which is a required participation for this program.
>> Those who do not have Facebook page, please, create one, as you will be
>> asked to join ICANN60 Facebook page."
>> --
>> * * *
>> Friendly geek in Amsterdam, FSFE Fellow
>> https://wiki.techinc.nl/index.php/User:Thomascovenant
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ncuc-discuss mailing list
>> Ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org
>> http://lists.ncuc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ncuc-discuss

-- 
* * *
Friendly geek in Amsterdam
https://wiki.techinc.nl/index.php/User:Thomascovenant


On 27.07.2017 22:48, Michael Karanicolas wrote:
> Hi Dina,
>
> Thanks very much for bringing this to our attention. You raise a very
> interesting issue - and I agree, in principle, that signing up for
> Facebook should not be a required component of participating in an
> ICANN Fellowship program.
>
> Would you feel comfortable forwarding or screenshot-ing the email in
> its entirety, just so we can see the full context as a means of
> informing this discussion?
>
> In the interim, and while this discussion goes on, it may be useful if
> you wanted to raise your concerns directly with Siranush, if you
> haven't already. Your objection would seem to me to be a valid one, so
> it might be interesting to see how ICANN might respond.
>
> Best,
>
> Michael Karanicolas
>
> On Thu, Jul 27, 2017 at 4:23 PM, thomascovenant
> <thomascovenant at thomascovenant.org> wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I am writing about a general matter that can still be quite important to
>> some.
>>
>> I respectfully disagree with making Facebook obligatory for ICANN
>> Fellowship program participation, yet it doesn't seem possible
>> to question this decision.
>>
>> Further, the decision to deny fellowship to those who do not comply with
>> Facebook demand makes no sense to me.
>>
>> I would welcome diverse participation of FOSS community, privacy
>> activists and ethical hacking communities in ICANN work. It can be very
>> valuable.
>>
>> I don't want any single fellow be forced to compromise their principles
>> in order to make volunteer contribution to ICANN work (please read the
>> links below).
>>
>> At the moment this is solved by forcing to register under a false name,
>> which is not the right thing to do on behalf of a large organization.
>>
>> Alternative means of communication should be easily available to those
>> who ask for them, minor detail of communication platform should not be
>> the reason to discourage volunteer work.
>>
>> We also have Chinese and Iranian fellows. Some countries impose FB
>> cencorship (wiki link below), which can also be an issue...
>>
>> What are your thoughts on this general subject? And how a good solution
>> can be found?
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Dina Solveig Jalkanen,
>> grateful for technical fellowship to ICANN60
>>
>> Resources:
>>
>> FB Censorship: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_of_Facebook
>> Some information about Facebook from Richard Stallman:
>> https://stallman.org/facebook.htm
>> http://www.salimvirani.com/facebook
>>
>> From public Fellowship emails by Siranush Vardanyan
>> Fellowship Program Manager, Public Responsibility Support, ICANN:
>>
>> "Last but not least: Social Media I will be creating an ICANN60 Facebook
>> page which is a required participation for this program.
>> Those who do not have Facebook page, please, create one, as you will be
>> asked to join ICANN60 Facebook page."
>> --
>> * * *
>> Friendly geek in Amsterdam, FSFE Fellow
>> https://wiki.techinc.nl/index.php/User:Thomascovenant
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ncuc-discuss mailing list
>> Ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org
>> http://lists.ncuc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ncuc-discuss

-- 
* * *
Friendly geek in Amsterdam
https://wiki.techinc.nl/index.php/User:Thomascovenant

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