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TEDxBrussels Organizer Drags Presenter Forcibly Off the Stage During Anti-censorship Talk

Accepted submission by canopic jug at 2018-03-11 05:54:44 from the strike-up-a-conversation-about-censorship dept.
Digital Liberty

TEDxBrussels has had its license revoked after an organizer dragged the controversial performance artist, Deborah De Robertis, off the stage by force during her presentation there. The parent organization recently has issued a statement on this incident at TEDxBrussels [ted.com]

Today at TEDxBrussels, an independently organized TEDx event, speaker and performance artist Deborah De Robertis was forcibly removed from the stage by one of the event’s organizers, who objected to the talk’s content.

From Mashable:

According to the TEDxBrussels website, the presenter, artist Deborah De Robertis, was in the middle of a piece addressing past censorship of her artwork. The forcible removal of her from stage was so absurd, reports the Netherlands newspaper NRC Handelsblad, that audience members initially applauded thinking it was a statement about censorship.

From Flanders News:

The organisers of Monday’s TEDxBrussels event are refusing to comment on what happened.

TED is a prestigious series of talks in which speakers get a maximum of 18 minutes to spread innovative ideas and tell how they can contribute to a better world. It started off as a 4-day conference in the US state of California.

From Flanders Today:

According to Focus Knack, TEDxBrussels – run by a group of volunteers – was told by De Robertis that she would not show images from her performances as part of her talk. When she did, they decided to shut it down. The New York-based Sapling Foundation, which owns TEDx, did not agree with the move.

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conferences started 1984 in California and cover most topics nowadays. The talks are intended to be thought provoking and are short, being 18 minutes or less in duration. Some may consider the talks too fluffy and lacking distinct solutions. The parent organization is a nonprofit, nonpartisan foundation with the agenda to make great ideas accessible and spark conversation. TEDx events are independently run and occur around the world. Until just now they used to also occur in Brussels.

From Flanders Today : TEDx Brussels loses license due to censorship [flanderstoday.eu]
From Flanders News : TEDxBrussels loses licence after incident with controversial artist [deredactie.be]
From Mashable : TEDxBrussels organizer drags presenter off stage during anti-censorship talk [mashable.com]


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