In 2026, the Palestine Digital Activism Forum (PDAF) will consider how control of narrative has become control of survival. Today, digital spaces are active battlegrounds where stories, images, and memories are amplified, distorted, or erased. PDAF 2026 will interrogate how narratives about Palestine are produced, policed, monetized, and obliterated. It will equip activists, journalists, technologists, and storytellers with practical tools to reclaim and defend Palestinian agency online.
PDAF will spotlight policy-focused discussions that expose the mechanics of narrative power, including online platform rules, state influence operations, ad-funded disinformation, algorithmic bias, and the geopolitics of content moderation. It will also spotlight practical sessions on narrative strategy and digital practice, including principled storytelling and dignified representation, open-source intelligence verification, digital security under occupation, and tactics to resist erasure and surveillance.
PDAF 2026 will examine how AI, platform algorithms, paid ads, fake accounts, bot networks, and platform policy design materially shape which Palestinian stories are visible. The Forum will aim to name the tactics used to steer conversation, from coordinated influence operations, shadow-banning, demonetization, search-engine smear campaigns, and targeted takedowns, while also addressing the human costs included in the deliberate silencing and killing of journalists, the deletion of cultural memory, as well as ICT infrastructure destruction that isolate Gaza and bury firsthand testimony.
Narratives matter ethically and strategically. The Forum will foreground principled storytelling that centers Palestinian dignity and agency: how to communicate Palestine without erasing the humanity of Palestinians who live it; how to build honest narratives that withstand distortion; and how to craft audience-first campaigns that help the public come to a more accurate understanding. We will invite experienced media figures, communications strategists, and creative practitioners such as journalists and speakers who have shaped public debate, to explore how authentic, evidence-based narratives can reach wider audiences and uphold accountability.
Accountability is central in PDAF 2026, as it will probe the role of big tech and the state in amplifying harmful content or enabling censorship. The Forum will showcase investigative journalism and OSINT successes that corrected falsehoods and documented abuses, offering case studies and toolkits for verification and ethical dissemination. Workshops will teach how to combine verification methods with rights-centered narratives so that truth becomes both resilient and accessible.
The Forum will also address the coercive technologies used to intimidate and silence Palestinians, including but not limited to surveillance, platform policing, and the strategic destruction of communications infrastructure. It will also consider collective responses from legal, technical, and advocacy-based contexts, and will explore strengthening grassroots storytelling ecosystems that preserve cultural memory under attack.
PDAF 2026 is a practical, urgent, and principled convening to map harm, build skills, share ethical narrative tools, and launch collaborative efforts that safeguard digital rights and preserve Palestinian existence in word, image, and data. We come to learn and to leave with concrete practices because in the information age, telling our story is how we survive.
Goals and objectives
To develop Palestinian digital activism and create a space for exchange of experiences and expertise with local and international counterparts.
To increase awareness among members of the Palestinian public about digital rights issues and challenges.
To increase Palestinian digital rights activists access to local and international power holders to facilitate changes in policies and practices.
