A troubling trend is taking root across Europe. Inspired by a 2012 Russian law, several authoritarian regimes are now experimenting with so-called "foreign agent laws." In Russia, this legislation has severely weakened political opposition, civil society, and independent media. It asks organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register with the authorities as “foreign agents.”

In his report Foreign Agent Laws: A Worrying Trend, Christian Holland notes that “The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that the archetypal foreign agent law violates fundamental rights and exhibits the “hallmarks of totalitarianism”, imposing punitive sanctions on NGOs and curtailing journalists’ ability to participate in public life.” In Georgia, a similar law was introduced in 2023 but was withdrawn after significant public and media resistance—only to be passed by the pro-Russian government in May 2024. Other countries are following. In May 2025, an EU member—Viktor Orbán’s Hungary—considered adopting such a law. Though it has been postponed, the threat still looms over the survival of Hungarian independent media.

So, how can we resist the interference of regimes seeking to suppress independent journalism? Can pan-European solidarity movements and networks help push back against these authoritarian measures? And what lessons can be drawn from media organisations already operating under foreign agent laws—so we can better prepare for what may come?

With:Gábor Kardos (444), Mariam Nikuradze (OC Media), Ena Bavčić (European Centre for Press and Media Freedom), Manon Moulin (Reset! network)

Moderation: Alexandra Tyan (Sphera & Médianes)

Artificial intelligence poses significant challenges to media independence through its dual role in content moderation and curation. Increasingly, content moderation on major platforms is handled by AI-driven systems, which are prone to errors and often shaped by commercial or political interests rather than journalistic or democratic values. This not only risks unjust censorship but also opens the door to AI-powered harassment campaigns against journalists, contributing to rising levels of self-censorship. At the same time, a handful of internet intermediaries, guided by profit rather than public interest, control the curation, distribution, and monetisation of news. AI systems tailor content to users based on surveillance of their online behaviour, reinforcing echo chambers and filter bubbles. This undermines access to diverse, high-quality information and shifts media consumption towards personalised, market-driven experiences, to the detriment of informed public debate.

With:

Moderation: Zoé Pasquier (K7 Technosensible), Francesco Marino (Pillole di Futuro Presente), Heritiana Ranaivoson (Vrije Universiteit Brussels)

Moderation: Matéo Vigné (journalist)

Perhaps more than ever, independent media are being challenged to rethink how they sustain themselves. Traditional revenue streams continue to weaken under growing market pressures and the consolidation of media ownership concentration. Public funding mechanisms, meanwhile, often remain outdated and poorly adapted to the realities of independent and multimedia formats. Participatory models have provided important alternatives, but they too are reaching their limits. The question now is: what new forms of support can help independent voices thrive? How can communities be more effectively engaged in fundraising, decision-making, and shared responsibility? This panel will explore creative pathways for ethical investment, cooperative ecosystems, and new models of solidarity that can secure the long-term future of independent media and cultural structures across Europe.

With: Julie Majerczak (RSF), Patricia Reguero Ríos (El Salto), David Kardos (CSM)

Moderation: Francesca Festa (Médianes)

How do emerging technologies reshape the landscape of journalism in contexts of extreme violence? On the one hand, open-source tools, satellite imagery, and digital platforms have enabled unprecedented documentation and investigation of events in Gaza, offering new ways to expose truths and challenge dominant narratives, silences, and denials. Yet, these same technologies—surveillance systems, AI-driven targeting, algorithmic bias, and the weaponisation of social media—have facilitated mass violence, censorship, and disinformation, accelerating a genocide against Palestinians.While Gazan journalists are being killed by the Israeli army, and international journalists are being deny their right to cover the strip, how can technology be used to investigate, do justice for lost Gazan journalists, and make Israel accountable? This is about interrogating this double-edged role of technology: as both a tool for accountability and a mechanism of oppression. Gaza is not only a case study, it is a warning—and a call to rethink how we use and govern technology in the struggle for justice.

With: James Kleinfeld (journalist), Marwa Fatafta (Access Now), Youssr Youssef (journalist, ex-Forbidden Stories)

Moderation: Souria Cheurfi

Leading Tbilisi-based webradio Mutant Radio stepped out of its famous carriage to broadcast from Lyon. A takeover punctuated by discussions, listening sessions and DJ sets focusing on Georgian culture.

You can find here to the Listening Session with Mess_Montage (Musician, Artist, Educator | GE).

What is the role of sound in archiving disappearing spaces? WonderCabinet, the creative hub hosting Radio Alhara on the hills of Palestine, sought to answer this question through its annual residency, Sound of Spaces. The residency’s first edition focused on capturing the sonic essence of the Cremisan Valley, the last green space surrounding Bethlehem, soon to be annexed by Israel as part of its ongoing settler-colonial project. In response, sonic artists, artisans, designers, visual artists, and the nuns at the Cremisan monastery, to create a repository of sounds that potentially speaks to the spirits of other environments, landscapes, both close by and on the other side of the world.

Behind this initiative stands the same visionary team behind Radio Alhara, the iconic Bethlehem-based webradio, which will take over the radio booth of Nuits Sonores Lab for an exceptional six-hour broadcast. Navigating similar themes, Yousef and Elias Anastas will weave together discussions, listening sessions, and DJ sets to explore the importance of cultural production as a fundamental part of Palestinian resistance to settler-colonialism. It will highlight initiatives that transform sound into a living archive of place and identity, using sonic narratives to reflect on displacement, memory, and resilience. Through this takeover, Radio Alhara will reaffirm its commitment to collective listening and exchange, carving out a space for sonic exploration, storytelling, and artistic defiance.

Wonder Cabinet and Sounds of Spaces: Sound archiving from the hills of Bethlehem

With Julmud (Artist | PS), Baraari (Artist | PS) et ABUL3EES (Artist | PS)

Moderated by Yousef Anastas (Radio Alhara | PS) and Elias Anastas (Radio Alhara | PS)

Mahalla: A Platform for Emerging Music from South West Asia & North Africa

With Aura Anahita (Mahalla, curator | FR)

Moderation by Yousef Anastas (Radio Alhara | PS) and Elias Anastas (Radio Alhara | PS)

Lancée en octobre 2023, l’initiative Réinventer la Nuit réunit artistes et associations militantes (Consentis & Au-delà du club) afin de créer un réseau d’entraide et d’outils dédiés à la lutte contre les violences sexistes et discriminatoires dans l’industrie musicale et les milieux festifs. Pour sortir de l’isolement face à ces violences, des cercles de parole mensuels dédiés aux DJs et professionnelles sexisées (femmes cis, personnes trans et non binaires) sont organisés au Point Éphémère (Paris) depuis plus d’un an. Ces cercles ont été pensés comme un outil politique de soin et d’empouvoirement afin de briser le cercle vicieux du silence et de l’isolement. Dans le cadre de Réinventer la Nuit, le collectif Au-delà du club a mené une étude exploratoire afin de visibiliser les témoignages intimes et anonymisés partagés pendant ces cercles, dont les résultats et analyses seront dévoilés pour la première fois le jeudi 29 mai lors de Nuits sonores Lab.

avec Sarah Gamrani (Au-delà du club | FR) & Célia Texier (Réinventer la Nuit | FR)

Nuits sonores Lab is opening a discussion with Meredith Whittaker, president of the Signal Foundation, the worldwide messaging application renowned for its data protection. She is also co-founder of the AI Now Institute, an independent research institute equipping the field with expert analysis to challenge and reimagine the current trajectory of AI. During this conversation, Meredith Whittaker presents us with her critical reflections from her position at the heart of tech, the ethics of artificial intelligence, online privacy, social networks and Internet governance.

with Meredith Whittaker (Foundation Signal / AI Now Institute | US)

Moderation: Tariq Krim (Cybernetica | FR)

Cet échange interroge les enjeux politiques et éthiques de la technopolice à l’ère de l’intelligence artificielle : qui surveille et dans quel but ? Quels dangers ces dispositifs font-ils peser lorsqu’ils détournent le regard des violences systémiques ?

Avec Félix Tréguer (Chercheur et membre de La Quadrature du Net, FR), Nastasia Hadjadji (Journaliste et autrice, FR)

Modération : Gerald Holubowicz (Synth Media, FR)

Qu’est ce que le technocolonialisme et comment faire advenir les luttes pour l’indépendance dont nous avons besoin ? Si les grandes entreprises de la tech sont devenues des empires, c’est bien que nous avons été colonisés par leurs déploiements techniques. Face aux logiques extractives – de l’extraction des métaux et terres rares dans le Sud global aux biais racistes des intelligences artificielles – le numérique se révèle être un nouveau terrain de colonialisme, incarné aujourd’hui par le colonialisme des données. Cet ordre social, où l’extraction continue de données génère des richesses massives et des inégalités globales, impose un contrat social où le progrès exige de livrer nos informations aux entreprises sans condition. La numérisation de nos existences redéfinit profondément les relations de pouvoir, rappelant que le capitalisme, intrinsèquement lié au colonialisme, exploite nos vies, comme le soulignait Achille Mbembe : « nous sommes le minerai que nos objets sont chargés d’extraire ».

Modéré par Histoires Crépues, ce panel offrira une plateforme pour réfléchir aux nouveaux enjeux numériques dans la lutte décoloniale.

avec Assia Wirth (Doctorant·e en sociologie | FR), David Maenda Kithoko (Génération Lumière | CD), Laurence Meyer (Weaving Liberation | FR)

Modération : Seumboy (Histoires Crépues | FR)