Nation's Largest Gathering to Explore the Internet's Impact on Politics, Government and Issues Advocacy Kicks Off Monday in NYC

NEW YORK, June 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The Personal Democracy Forum (PDF) returns today to New York City where more than 800 attendees will gather over two days to hear from 135 thought leaders at the nexus of technology, politics, government and social advocacy. Now in its ninth year, PDF has grown to become the city's largest tech conference, and one of the world's premier gatherings to explore this most timely and consequential movement.

This year's forum theme, "The Internet's New Political Power," has special significance given the lessons learned from the SOPA/PIPA debate, the Planned Parenthood and KONY episodes, and what lies ahead for the 2012 political campaigns and elections.

"There is a new currency emerging in politics driven by the power of networks, and by people who believe in an open secure Internet as the platform for 21st century free speech and human rights," said Personal Democracy Forum's founder Andrew Rasiej. "It is now clear that political institutions threatened by the Internet's ability to disrupt existing power structures and markets are now actively trying to limit its impact and in doing so are also threatening a more open democracy."

Micah Sifry, the conference's co-founder and editorial director, added: "What's new this year is we're starting to see the rise of the Internet as a bona fide interest group. There are millions of people who identify with the net and/or make their living from working on it, and they're becoming more politically active themselves."

A who's who of politics, technology and social advocacy will be speaking. They include: Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Mark Surman (Mozilla Foundation), Alexis Ohanian (Reddit), John Perry Barlow (Electronic Frontier Foundation), Zac Moffatt (Mitt Romney for President), Ellen Miller (Sunlight Foundation), Jane Holl Lute (Department of Homeland Security), Todd Park (Chief Technology Officer of the United States of America), Kathleen Hall Jamieson (Annenberg Public Policy Center), David Weinberger (Harvard Berkman Center for Internet & Society), Baratunde Thurston ("How to Be Black")...

Many of the keynote presentations will be live-streamed on the Web from the PDF website: http://personaldemocracy.com/conference

Among the topics covered:

• "The Internet's New Political Power Inside and Outside Congress"
• "Digital Activism in the Middle East"
• "The November Election: Online and in the Media"
• "Homeland Security in the Networked Age"
• "For the People, By the People: How Open Data Drives Innovation"
• "Digital Activism in China and Russia"
• "Flack-Checking Political Sleaze"
• "The Real Story of 2012: Using Digital for Persuasion"
• "In Defense of Echo Chambers"
• "The Next Internet Revolutions"

A full program schedule, list of speakers, and the live webstream coordinates can be found on the Personal Democracy Forum website:
http://personaldemocracy.com/conference

The Twitter hashtag for the conference is: #pdf12

Logo: http://www.ereleases.com/pic/2012-PersonalDemocracyForum.jpg

Contacts:
Peter Himler, Flatiron Communications (for PDF12)
[email protected], 516-308-1120

Giorgia Lucciola, Personal Democracy Forum
[email protected], 347-406-3058

This press release was issued through eReleases® Press Release Distribution. For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Personal Democracy Forum