Lecture: Sebastian Kaempf

"The Geopolitics of Cyberspace: Global Political Trends and Their Impact on Security, Privacy and Human Rights," Sebastian Kaempf, senior lecturer in peace and conflict studies in the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland (Australia).

This talk is supported by a Short-Term Visiting Fellow grant from the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts.

Kaempf's latest book, Saving Soldiers or Civilians?, was published with Cambridge University Press. He is also the convener of the free, open, online course "MediaWarX: Global Media, War and Technology."

In this talk, Kaempf analyzes transformative effects that the Internet, social media apps, and cloud computing have had on societies and human beings. In particular, he looks at the original ideals underpinning cyberspace before focussing on three broad social trends that are affecting cyberspace today and how they are impacting on privacy, human rights, and freedom of speech: 1) the growing role of the state in cyberspace and the securitization of cyberspace; 2) the growth of a global market for cyberarms; and 3) the changing demographics of cyberspace. These developments, he argues, do not bode well for the future of the Internet, privacy, and human rights and therefore require each of us to change our attitude towards the information technology we are using on a daily basis.